Niall Blaney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming before us today. It is appropriate he is here for the debate on this motion. I wish him well over the next few weeks with his deliberations on the workings of the protocol. I thank Senator Currie for bringing the motion before the House and sharing a little insight into her background. It is appropriate that she has led the debate given the background of the Senator and her family in Northern Ireland politics. She referred to her upbringing. I also thank her colleague, Senator Barry Ward.

We saw an attempt to bring a similar amnesty in 2005 and that was correctly stopped with great effort made by the families of victims seeking justice for loved ones and the political parties that did not want those involved in murder to walk free. The Good Friday Agreement was a landmark document that finally brought peace to this island but it should not be used as a shield for human rights violations simply because they preceded the agreement. The Good Friday Agreement was achieved through co-operation and dialogue and it is shameful that the UK Government has proposed this amnesty without prior consideration with others and due process. This is a very difficult and sensitive matter. We simply cannot ignore the reality of what happened in many cases. I am glad the Ballymurphy family members were involved in the process leading to this motion.

We are all familiar with cases where extrajudicial force was used by either the British Army or the Royal Ulster Constabulary, RUC, against what they deemed as threats but instead were simply civilians. I will speak about one of those and bring it to the record of the House today. I hope the death of this person sheds some light on why the proposed amnesty is untenable and simply flies in the face of justice. Michael Leonard was a 24-year-old lad when he was shot dead by police officers of the RUC on 17 May 1973 in County Fermanagh. He was shot in the back and killed 200 yards from the Donegal border for driving while disqualified.

The RUC claimed at the time that one accidental shot was fired and it struck Michael but that was not the case. There were multiple and deliberate shots. In an official report, the British armed forces claimed that Michael was a member of the Provisional IRA but he never was. He was a civilian with a motoring misdemeanour. We have learned since that RUC constables were aware of who they were following and they were following Michael with the intent of shooting to kill. The Police Service of Northern Ireland, PSNI, stated to The Irish Newsthat it would treat Michael's death as a murder but it changed its stance since when questioned by another publication. No officer has faced charges and this proposed amnesty will ensure nobody ever will. There are many other similar cases and I am sure plenty more will be put on the record today.

Michael Leonard was one of the many victims of the time whose family has yet to see justice. Any discussion must start with consideration of justice for innocent victims and their families. We cannot stand by in silence and allow the British Government to move forward with this betrayal and injustice. The Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights and the Law Society of Northern Ireland have rejected these proposals. The Council of Europe has stated the proposed amnesty risks undermining human rights protection and will cut off avenues to justice for victims and families. The Commissioner for Human Rights has said the UK plan will lead to impunity and cannot be the foundation on which transitional justice is built, and that it could obstruct the effectiveness of future investigations into killings.

For decades we strived for peace on this island and this peace was achieved with a promise of truth and reconciliation. How can we move forward if truth is to be covered up and reconciliation is made impossible? The UK Government will not find much support for this if it wishes to vanquish the human rights of victims to protect perpetrators of crime. Groups that support perpetrators over victims are not our desired company.

A joint study by Queen's University Belfast and the Committee on the Administration of Justice has compared the UK's proposed amnesty with those seen in the past but the proposed amnesty goes further to protect perpetrators than the amnesty introduced by General Augusto Pinochet in Chile. One of the authors of the study indicates that the proposed UK amnesty would offer the broadest form of impunity of approximately 300 amnesties surveyed. In this House we are all well aware of the work done by Lord Robin Eames and Mr. Denis Bradley and the effort they put into the report dealing with the past. That report outlined a pathway towards reconciliation but was abandoned with a change of the UK Government. The report stated that a general amnesty would not be appropriate in current circumstances and the route of investigation and prosecution should be kept open.

We must acknowledge that the Troubles are a living memory for many people and families who have lost loved ones. In asking those people to forget about seeking justice, the UK Government is asking them to move on and accept the wrongdoing their families have endured. Kidnapping, torture and the cold-blooded murder of civilians cannot be forgotten and therefore cannot be forgiven by offering impunity to perpetrators. We must invoke the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement and work through dialogue, open and honest communication and co-operation to deliver justice and peace to the victims and their loved ones.

I state for the record that I and my party colleagues wish to be joint signatories of this motion.