Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise the issue of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland's report into the collusion of state forces and unionist gangs in the murder of innocent people only 100 miles from here. The report by the ombudsman details how informers were retained even after they were suspected by the RUC of having been involved in murder. The use of murder gangs by the British was a tactic in many of their colonies, so it should not be surprising there was a policy of state collusion with loyalist gangs. The report states, "police prioritised intelligence gathering and protection of sources, over the detection of serious crime and their obligation to bring the perpetrators of those crimes to justice".

The ombudsman's investigation identified eight Ulster Defence Association-Ulster Freedom Fighters members who were linked, through intelligence, to the murders or attempted murders of 27 people. All eight of these individuals were found to be police informants. Weapons were donated to these killers by the British Army and police gave weapons back to these killers after they were confiscated. Another very worrying finding of the report is that the police did not warn people of real and imminent threats when doing so may have saved lives. The report shows that the state colluded in the murder of innocent people and there was routine destruction of evidence and documentation, as well as failure by the RUC special branch to share information on murder suspects. It is devastating and horrific. The report demonstrates just how rotten the actions of RUC special branch, and, without doubt, the British Army force research unit and MI5, were in terms of the use of murder gangs to carry out the assassination of innocent people.

It is now apparent why the British Government is proposing a Troubles amnesty. This must be opposed and the demands of the families that someone is held accountable for the murders of their loved ones must be upheld. It is not only the perpetrators of these crimes who must be held accountable, but the people at the highest level who sanctioned these murders. My heart goes out to the families who lost loved ones and who now realise the very police who were supposed to be investigating these murders were actually colluding with those responsible and even supplying them with weapons. I would like the Minister to comment on the report.

Like my colleague, Senator Boylan, I reiterate my call for a debate on Israeli apartheid in light of the publication last week of the report on the matter by Amnesty International. This week, Michael Ben-Yair, a former Israeli Attorney General, also concluded that the government he previously served is an apartheid regime. We cannot allow for the sting to be taken out of Amnesty's declaration and we must acknowledge the role we can play in keeping this issue front and centre of the work in this House.