Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am sorry that the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan, had to leave, but I understand the way the rota system works. I mean no disrespect to the Minister of State, Deputy Joe McHugh, when I say this. I compliment the Minister on the proactive role he has played in the past few months, particularly in the light of the recent threat to the institutions in Northern Ireland.

Senator Jim D'Arcy mentioned all parties, but I am not sure whether he was talking about the North or the South. In the South we can support all of the initiatives in the world, but at the end of the day it is about what happens behind closed doors at Stormont between the elected representatives of the people of Northern Ireland and the dominant parties - the DUP and Sinn Féin.

I acknowledge what I believe is the statesman-like position Mr. Martin McGuinness has taken. I have always had great respect for him because he has never at any time shied away from the reality of his background in Derry. He has admitted that he was not only a member of the IRA but also that he was an active member, unlike his party colleague, Deputy Gerry Adams, but I am not going to go down that road.

I welcome Senator David Cullinane's renewed commitment to opposing criminality in all its forms. Whenever I hear Sinn Féin representatives condemning criminality in their new political guise I cannot help it, but my mind keeps flipping back over a lot of murders in this State, not to mention what happened in Northern Ireland, in the name of Irish republicanism and the cause of freedom of Ireland, that of Detective Jerry McCabe being one. There was the young man who went into a bank in Waterford with his son who was shot in front of him. Sinn Féin gave the driver of the getaway car a medal at its ard fheis. As that only happened in the last two years, forgive me if I sound a little cynical.

I do not wish in any way to undermine the commitment Sinn Féin's elected members have, particularly in Northern Ireland, to maintaining the institutions. I know from first-hand experience of dealing with Sinn Féin representatives through the North-South Implementation Bodies and at the various committee meetings I have attended at Stormont in recent years that Sinn Féin is committed to maintaining the institutions in Northern Ireland perhaps even a little more than it is given credit for. However, it seems to have a blind spot when it comes to the political realities of facing two sides at the one time - facing the electorate in Northern Ireland and in the South which have different dynamics.