Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise the retweeting of a tweet by my colleague, Senator Devine. I know Senator Devine as a hard-working person here in the Seanad, but I could not allow such a thing to go without comment. Brian Stack was a prison officer who served this country during the Troubles. He was murdered by thoughtless people. Like many other members of this country's security forces - prison officers, gardaí and soldiers - Mr. Stack stood guard and looked after this country during the worst of times. It is totally unacceptable that anybody would seek to denigrate his name in any way now. In my view, Mr. Stack was a true patriot of Ireland. He needs to be respected for standing his ground in dealing with prisoners during some of the most troubled times we have known in this country.

I am not going to condemn Senator Devine here today. Instead, I am asking the Leader to set aside time for Senator Devine to come to this Chamber, as a Member of the Seanad, to explain to her colleagues how she got involved in this series of tweets. The retweeting was one thing, but to argue online with Brian Stack's son was totally unacceptable. Many of us in this House have met Austin Stack on various occasions. I have met him at several committee meetings.The man has dedicated much of his life to working towards reconciliation with people. I am absolutely devastated. I had grave reservations about raising this issue coming in here today because one never wants to take one's colleague to task. However, at the end of the day, the murder of a patriot in this country cannot be allowed to be in any way debased or diminished by anyone. Nobody has the right to go after the likes of Mr. Stack. It is so easy to say what one wants about the dead because they cannot speak for themselves. I just think of the family. We have all seen the bots on social media - the faceless people who attack all of us. They will attack my colleagues in Sinn Féin as quick as they will those in Fine Gael or anywhere else. We should not give these people oxygen. I believe that Senator Devine is entitled to time to come in here and explain how she found herself in that situation because all of us have made mistakes in our lives. The Stack family, however, are entitled to a formal apology at the very least.