Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, to the House. I acknowledge the work Senator Currie has done pulling together broad support for her Private Members' motion. I mention the fact the Department responded to a Commencement matter I raised on this issue on 21 September 2021 and I have the Department's response here. The Minister could not be in the House on that particular day. It made for interesting reading and it gave me more hope. I was particularly taken by the closing statement. I will not rehearse all of that now because it can be read on the Oireachtas website. However, I thank the Minister and acknowledge his enormous commitment.

I read a very interesting piece in The Guardianattributed to the Minister and his Department in regard to this issue. The Minister stands very firm and resolute in how he intends to deal with the issue and that is to be encouraged. I also acknowledge the clarity the Taoiseach has brought to this issue. The Government is ad idemon this issue and is determined to take it on and to recognise it is wrong.

To set some context, Senators and Deputies as well as representatives from the five parties in the Northern Ireland Executive met with a cross-community group of victims' campaigners in Belfast City Hall on 30 August 2021. That was a meeting of cross-community groups and members of political parties on both sides of the Border. It is worth pointing out that those who travelled to Belfast that day, included Senator Currie Senator Mark Daly, the Cathaoirleach, and myself and Deputy Lawless from Fianna Fáil, Deputy Howlin from the Labour Party, and Deputy Costello from the Green Party. That was a very important engagement. At the heart of this discussion was the moving account by Raymond McCord, Julia Hamilton and Lorraine McCausland. There were tears, emotions, sadness in recounting the painful legacy. We need to focus on the legacy issues. The Department is very much focused on legacy issues and the need to tackle them.

I, along with Senator Currie and all the Members of the Oireachtas there, signed what that group requested. I am fully committed, about which there is no ambiguity or doubt, to the principle here. I was contacted by individuals but I do not think it is necessary to sign a document again. It was presented in Westminster, and that is an important point.

I am also a member of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly and I will attend a meeting it this weekend, as will Senator Currie and others from these Houses. I will certainly be using my influence there to talk to Members of the House of Lords and to MPs about our concern. I used an opportunity in the American Embassy, when I spoke to some state legislators there last night, to share my concerns. I will use every opportunity open to me to raise the issues. There are serious concerns.

People have simply lost confidence in the British Government's capacity to deal with the past and these issue, and it is important to acknowledge that. No individual group, no organisation, no state forces or agents can be immune from prosecution. It is as simple as that; there can be no ambiguity. Investigations, prosecutions, inquests and civil actions cannot be abolished. Due process must take place.

One of the things we took away, and I think Senator Currie will agree, was that these campaigners wanted people to listen. There was a common thread throughout their discussions with us in Belfast City Hall that day. They felt that they were being told to draw a line under it and to move on, but they want and are entitled to accountability. They want truth and justice for their families, neighbours and loved ones, and they are entitled to get that.

It was interesting that subsequent to that meeting, 35 Members of the US Congress, including Brendan Boyle and Brian Fitzpatrick, great friends of Ireland, signed a letter to the British Prime Minister calling on the UK Government to reaffirm its commitment to the Stormont House Agreement and for the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, to scrap his proposals to ban future prosecutions related to the Northern Ireland Troubles, that is, the painful issues and the painful legacy. US legislators have expressed concern and that is important. We must keep our US and EU contacts close as well as our colleagues in the UK because we have many advocates and supporters there.

When the Minister, Deputy Coveney, talks about Northern Ireland, the bigger issue and the commonality of the islands, I am always conscious of how much we have in common. I have listened to many speeches he has made where he talks about the commonality. We have more in common in terms of supporting one another, be it around Brexit, trade or being good neighbours, which I support. I very much support what has been said here. It is important that we have a path to truth, justice and reconciliation.

Summing up on that Commencement matter, the Minister speaking on the Minister's behalf said that there must be framework for dealing with the past that meets the legitimate needs of families, provides a real pathway to reconciliation and critically upholds our human rights obligations, including those under the European Convention on Human Rights.It is where we are. We have allies in Europe and friends in America. Dare I say it, we have allies in the Palace of Westminster, and I certainly intend tapping into them in the next few days when I am over there.

I support this process and I want to be very clear so there is no ambiguity. I am glad to have this opportunity to yet again state my commitment to it. I acknowledge the Minister's commitment in the area and it is important that we work together to address, in a meaningful way, the pain and suffering so many people had to endure. I am a regular traveller to Northern Ireland and I have business contacts there, along with family and friends. I am there regularly. I do not see a Border in terms of minds, hearts, interests and community. We have much in common but we must move on and recognise that justice must be served. The people who shared their stories with us, pouring out their hearts, are losing faith and hope. I hope we can stand in solidarity with them and we must have more than just words and motions. We must see action through real and tangible commitments.