Vincent P Martin (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Deep division remains and festers on this island in respect of legacy issues. We may have peace in Northern Ireland but we certainly do not have normal relations. The past is not exclusively to be shared by one tradition only. No atrocity, no matter how wicked, can justify and encapsulate the pain and loss suffered by so many.

A few weeks ago, this House unanimously called for a public, sworn inquiry and we implored the British Government to do the right thing regarding the murder of Pat Finucane. Subsequently, the British Government, to the great upset of the Finucane family, decided not to have a public, sworn inquiry. That was despite, as we reminded the British Government, a finding by Judge Cory of collusion. We may have peace but we will not have normality until the day mainstream politicians from every party will stand up for the rights of and justice and the truth for the other community. It is easy to stand up in respect of the injustices regarding one's own community but not so easy regarding those of the so-called other side.

Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Robert Buchanan of the then Royal Ulster Constabulary, RUC, were murdered on 20 March 1989, as they returned home from Dundalk. Their families have sought for years to get to the truth about their deaths. Recently, the democratically-elected leader of Irish unionism requested the Taoiseach to meet to discuss allegations of collusion south of the Border. I commend the Taoiseach, and I would be grateful if the Leader would convey my message to him, on acceding to that request.

In the Smithwick tribunal of inquiry, while finding there was no direct evidence of collusion in the killing of those two RUC officers, Judge Smithwick concluded, on the balance of probabilities, that collusion did occur involving an unidentified member or members of An Garda Síochána. The then Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade said that he was "appalled and saddened at the finding" and that it was "a matter of great public concern". If we are going to tell the British what to do, surely at the very least, we should look closer to home and not go down the blind alleyways of the British Government. The best vaccination against the deep divisions of legacy issues and the deep distrust is to build bridges of trust, truth and reconciliation.