Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I accept that I coming to this matter a bit late. I have no comment to make on the circumstances of the resignation of the former Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Naughten. In his capacity as Minister, I found Deputy Naughten very forthcoming, available and engaging and I want to give him credit, particularly for the hands-on approach he took to trying to secure energy supply and security in the Shannon Estuary. He was very involved in a project that is close to my heart, namely, that relating to liquefied natural gas, LNG. Unfortunately, that project has once again been delayed by an objection. I hope that when there is an outcome in that regard, the new Minister, Deputy Bruton, might come to the House and take up from where the former Minister, Deputy Naughten, left off.

I want to bring the attention of the House to an article by Simon Carswell in today's edition of The Irish Times. It includes an interview with Mary Casey of Inniskeen, County Monaghan, regarding the death of her father, Johnny, in a tragic appalling murderous act carried out by the IRA on August 22, 1972, when it exploded a bomb at a Border crossing in Newry. The explosion resulted in the deaths of eight people, including Mary's father, who was an innocent lorry driver who had stopped to get his documents in order. The article is very interesting. It brings to mind all of the atrocities committed by the IRA and its equally mad counterparts on the extreme unionist side. It is important that we dwell on these things, especially at a time when there is a lot of loose talk about Brexit. I have heard some outrageous comments by Neanderthal British politicians about letting the Irish shoot it out among themselves. There have been equally irresponsible comments from the other side, with people stating that it is time to take advantage, have a Border poll and get a united Ireland.They should read the newspaper article in question today. I commend it to every Member of every party. We do not want to go back to those murderous mad days. The IRA finally realised the futility of its activities and moved on. Thanks be to God, it perished in the dustbins of history. However, there are equally mad people up there who still think they can do the murderous things the IRA thought it had authority to do. Now is the time to reflect on that before it gets any further and let saner voices prevail in the Brexit debate.