Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I endorse the request to invite the North's Finance Minister, Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, to make a presentation to the House. I have great personal admiration and respect for Máirtín Ó Muilleoir. His passion for people, equality, investment and prosperity is palpable. As a whirlwind of politics and human endeavour, it would be good to have him here. Is Gael go smior é chomh maith.

Will the Leader of the House urgently invite the relevant Minister to the House to discuss the report by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, Dr. Michael Maguire, on the police investigation of the Loughinisland massacre? I do not know if Members are familiar with the damning report published by Dr. Maguire on the police investigation into that atrocity. When Loughinisland is mentioned it conjures up many images and memories for people. I recall that our family was holidaying in Minerstown, which is approximately a 20 minute drive from Loughinisland, after enjoying the match like everybody else. When word arrived, we were put in the car and taken home, such was the palpable fear that this was not the end of such events or that something equally bad or much worse was on the way.

When we say the word "Loughinisland" we might reflect on The Heights Bar, the image from outside the bar and on the fact that this week and over the coming weeks many of us will gather at home, in pubs and in clubs to watch and cheer on Ireland as the team progresses through another international tournament, just as the people in The Heights Bar were doing. We think of the photographs of the six men who lost their lives: Adrian Rogan, aged 34; Malcolm Jenkinson, aged 54; Patrick O'Hare, aged 35; Eamon Byrne, aged 39; Daniel McCreanor aged 54, and his uncle, Barney Greene, aged 87. They were slaughtered for their faith and their support for a team in a terrible time.

When I think of Loughinisland now, I think of the campaigning families of those men whose stand for justice and truth has been beyond admirable. It has been extremely difficult for them. They have faced obstacles and obstruction, but the report published by Dr. Maguire validates their stand. Not only was there collusion and obstruction in the investigation into the event, but that collusion reached the highest level. I will quote a brief paragraph from what is a long and frightening report on the institutional and deliberate failings in that investigation:

I have found that Special Branch held intelligence that paramilitary informants were involved in a range of activities, including command and control of Loyalist paramilitaries; the procurement, importation and distribution of weapons; murder and conspiracy to murder. They have not been subject to any meaningful criminal investigation.

It is incumbent on the Irish Government not just as a body that upholds the rights of Irish citizens, but also as a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, to take a clear, strong stand after the Fresh Start Agreement on the policy of the British Government in recent times to use national security as a veto to any further investigation or any truth recovery process. This does not just apply to Loughinisland but also to Pat Finucane and any investigation of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. This should concern not only the Members of this House, but also the Government. Given the severity of the report, I ask the Leader to respond as urgently as possible. It was discussed in the Dáil this week and it is incumbent on us to hear from the Minister what he can do to maintain the pressure and ensure that there is no such veto or that no shutter will be pulled down on a future investigation.