Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to acknowledge that the office of the Minister of State with responsibility for Defence contacted me a number of times last night. The Minister of State conveyed the message that he wanted to be in the House today for the debate but he was unable to reschedule a number of commitments. We tried but, unfortunately, the Commencement matter could not be rescheduled to facilitate him. In fairness, he has conveyed his concern on the issue.

Some years ago I met John Gorman. He was a 17-year-old lad caught up in the siege all those years ago. He is a man of the highest integrity who, along with others, has campaigned for many years for recognition of what they did. I met him with a former member of the Defence Forces from Donegal, Eunan Carroll. Having met those two men of integrity I could see that a serious injustice had been done but it was not until I watched the film dramatisation of what had happened that this truly sank in. A group of over 150 Irish soldiers heroically did their duty for United Nations international peacekeeping. They had participated in what was probably one of the most remarkable military feats in military history in that not one of them lost their lives. Sadly, the same was not true of many of the mercenaries on the other side of the conflict who attacked them.

One might have thought they would come home to a hero's welcome after a month of imprisonment. Instead, they were betrayed utterly by the powers that be, by those in the State caught up in this Cold War piggy-in-the-middle situation. Worse than betrayal, they were allowed to be presented as cowards for all of these years. They had to suffer that indignity as well. Eunan Carroll tells me that he billeted with many of those men but they never talked about Jadotville. They were involved in such heroic events over six days and they held their ground on behalf of the international community for six days. Yet, subsequently, they felt unable to talk about it, such was the sense of betrayal among those men.

With all due respect, giving scrolls is not going to cut it. I strongly and passionately believe there needs to be a presentation of military medals of gallantry in Áras an Uachtaráin for all the men who served that day.

In the past week, two of those heroic men who served the United Nations during the days of the siege have lost their lives. They have passed away after many years. Sergeant John "Butch" McManus passed away this week and Bill Ready is being buried in Mullingar today. Gathered at the funeral will be all his old comrades from Jadotville who are still alive. As the years go on those numbers will grow smaller and smaller.

I appreciate that the Minister of State with responsibility for Defence, Deputy Paul Kehoe, contacted me. I realise he shares my sense of determination on this issue. We need to do more than simply hand out scrolls on account of the scale of the betrayal. These men served the people with honour and exhibited extraordinary heroism during those days. They came home and were betrayed for many years. The only way that can be turned around is for the surviving members to be taken to Áras an Uachtaráin, together with members of the families of those who are deceased. They should be brought to Áras an Uachtaráin and all should be presented with medals for military gallantry. That would be an appropriate way to respond. It would signify a reversal of the injustice they have endured.