Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to extend our deepest sympathy to the bereaved families in Toronto, and all Canadian people, on yesterday's incident which took so many lives.

I wish to discuss the hooded men briefing held in the AV room in Leinster House. I thank my colleague, Senator Niall Ó Donghaile, and Mr. Jim Gibney for organising it. I also thank the Tánaiste, Deputy Coveney, for agreeing to meet them this afternoon. I hope the meeting will be productive. Their main request and that of Sinn Féin is that the Government appeal the judgment of the European Court of Justice, ECJ, on this case. At the briefing we heard from Francie McGuigan and Liam Shannon in particular, two of the 14 men singled out for special treatment and torture during internment in 1971. Those not familiar with the events should look up what happened in the nine days for which these men were taken away and deemed missing, the techniques that were used and the sheer and utter brutality of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, RUC, with the backup of the British Army, in a purpose-built torture centre in Ballykelly. The ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in 1978 did not take into account all the relevant details. These men want to know who was responsible for what happened to them and why it was done. The main issue is the need for the Government to appeal the judgment of the ECJ. Uniquely, those who carried out the torture asked the British Government for immunity before the men were tortured. I was not aware of that until we heard the first hand experiences of the hooded men and from Darragh Mackin of their legal team.They described how they were taken in a helicopter and how they were hung backwards out of the helicopter. They were five foot from the ground but they had no idea how high in the air they were. They described how they were subject to white noise and how, for seven days, they were not allowed to use the toilet. It was deemed as degrading and inhumane treatment. We are also aware that it was torture.