Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I stand in support of my colleague, the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, and An Garda Síochána, and in staunch opposition to the political games being played by Sinn Féin today. When the country is in shock, when emotions and stakes are high and people are trying to get their heads around the frightening reality of the far right, they look to their politicians for stability, not point-scoring. The Government is accountable for its actions and decisions, as is the Garda. Accountability should be embraced by us all, even when it is hard and not just when it suits.

Just one week before the riots, on 15 November, family members of one of the disappeared, Columba McVeigh, said they were considering legal action to require people to tell the truth following the sixth failed search for Columba's remains in Bragan Bog in County Monaghan.Members of Sinn Féin are those people. On 19 November, a European free speech body wrote to Sinn Féin. It said the stream of legal cases by its members had the hallmarks of strategic lawsuits, some would say to stifle scrutiny and accountability past and present. On 24 November, as part of the ongoing legal challenges to the legacy Bill in Belfast, a barrister for the Northern Ireland Office was able to refer to Sinn Féin as saying one thing in public meetings and another in private meetings. As with others, the IRA will work to suppress the truth of its 1,700 murders, including of gardaí, servants of the state and 319 members of the RUC. Some were murdered from the shadows, some were shot in the back or murdered by a car bomb on the way to church. Accountability applies to us all and it cannot be cherry-picked.