Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am a former soldier who served in two armies. On Tuesday afternoon in Belfast, the horrors of the Troubles came back to me. I take grave exception to people talking about members of any security force being murderers. I accept that there were rogue groups who murdered people but I draw the attention of the House to Ranger Best, who was taken out of his house in Derry and brought to Donegal to be shot. Were the people who did that not equally as bad? There were also the loyalist terror groups that went around and killed at will. Were they not equally as bad? Raking over the past does nothing.

The people who served in the security forces and colluded must be brought to justice at some stage. All soldiers, regardless of where they served, carried with them authorisation cards that gave them the five instances in which they could open fire. I take grave exception to people who once supported murderers turning on other murderers and trying to make out in some way that what they did was worse. This country was torn apart, particularly the North of Ireland, by terrorist groups on all sides. There is a triangle and it is not just two sides; there were three sides. There were those in the security forces who colluded. We must remember that there were also those in the security forces on this side who colluded. Let us not all be running around the place claiming to be whiter than white and purer than pure. Ultimately, the woman we met on Tuesday evening had brought her child to a predetermined place to have his kneecaps shot off because he had transgressed a rule laid down by some unelected person. The same sort of terror goes on in these communities every day of the week. Many communities in Northern Ireland are not able to turn to the official Police Service of Northern Ireland to deal with issues. The women of Northern Ireland carry with them the trauma of what went on up there. Those who committed atrocities must answer for what they did but let us not try and pretend that it was a one-sided affair because it was not.

Yesterday, I met people from the South East Fermanagh Foundation. This group deals with survivors of the Troubles. One of the points made to me is that there are people in the Republic who were traumatised as a result of the Troubles but we have no dedicated service to look after them. They are told they must go to the HSE for psychological services but what do they get? They get put on a list whereby they will be dealt with at some stage. My colleague, Senator Marshall, might or might not agree with me but one of the things we have to do down here is take full ownership of the Good Friday Agreement. This means dealing with the issues that people who are living on this side of the Border have to deal with. We cannot be borrowing from services in the North of Ireland that are not funded. If we are going to use those organisations we must fund them. I am sorry but I am a little annoyed over this.