Written answers

Tuesday, 6 July 2010

Department of Foreign Affairs

Saville Report

10:00 am

Photo of Jim O'KeeffeJim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 385: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the contents of the Saville report published on 15 June 2010; the impact this will have on the ongoing peace process in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27877/10]

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The deaths, injuries and suffering resulting from the actions of the British Army on Bloody Sunday, 30 January 1972, brought relations on this island and between Britain and Ireland to breaking point. This was compounded by the stain which the Widgery report placed on the characters of men now finally and publicly acknowledged to have been innocent.

The publication of Lord Saville's report into the events of Bloody Sunday has been widely welcomed, most particularly by the Bloody Sunday families themselves. On the day after the publication, members of the Bloody Sunday families travelled to Dublin to meet with the Taoiseach and told him of their satisfaction with Prime Minister David Cameron's acknowledgement that the events of that day were 'unjustified and unjustifiable'. The report vindicates the families' long and dignified campaign to clear their loved ones' names and, in their own words, 'set the truth free'. I am pleased that successive Governments have been able to play our part in this process.

The Saville report is the product of what was one of the longest and most complicated inquiries in legal history: it runs to over 5,000 pages. The Government, just as the families and their representatives, will take our time to examine it in close detail. No doubt it will also need to be given careful consideration by the appropriate authorities in the North and in Britain.

As the Taoiseach noted in addressing the Dáil last week, the Saville Inquiry was not about re-opening old wounds, but about healing scars left by injustice. The report and the brave and honest words of Prime Minister Cameron in accepting its findings have the potential, I believe, to further the process of reconciliation on this island and between these islands and consolidate peace. These were the sentiments which were expressed in the All Party Motion passed by the House that day.

This potential for healing was underlined when, on the morning after the publication, representatives of the Protestant churches – Bishop Good, Moderator Hamilton and President Kingston – joined with Bishop Daly and the families in the Bogside to remember those who died on Bloody Sunday and throughout the Troubles. The spirit of reconciliation shown that day, a spirit which guided the families in their long campaign for truth, can be a solid platform for the future.

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