Vol. 193 No. 8
asked the Minister for Justice if any of the prisoners at present held under the Offences Against the State Act, the Firearms Act, or the Explosive Substances Act has indicated his willingness to respect the Constitution; and, if so, if it is proposed to free any such prisoners.
89.
asked the Minister for Justice whether the position of persons imprisoned under the Offences Against the State Acts, both by the District Courts and by the Special Criminal Court, is in any way altered by the statement issued on 26th February by the Irish Republican Publicity Bureau that the campaign of violence against the Six Counties had been called off.
90.
andMr. McQuillan asked the Minister for Justice if in view of the recent statement by the Irish Republican Publicity Bureau in which they have undertaken that there will be no force used in future operations to end Partition he will consider (a) bringing to an end the military tribunals set up to try members of the organisation concerned, and (b) releasing forthwith those now held at the order of these courts.
91.
asked the Minister for Justice if in view of recent developments he will consider the release of all persons imprisoned for offences against the State; and if he will make representations to the British Government to do likewise in relation to the Six Counties and Britain.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 88 to 91 together.
Unfortunately, it is not correct to say that the statement issued by the so-called Irish Republican Publicity Bureau included an undertaking that no force would in future be used by the illegal organisation concerned. The statement specifically stated that the organisation is to remain in being and it went on to speak of a period of consolidation, expansion and preparation.
I must therefore repeat that the existence of unlawful organisations claiming the right to use force if and when it suits them will not be tolerated and neither will the illegal possession of arms or explosives.
This, however, is not to say that the ending of the campaign of violence in no way alters the position. The admission of the failure of the campaign and, perhaps even more important, the admission that the policy of violence had been decisively rejected by the Irish people, should bring home to the individual members the futility of the continued existence of the organisation itself.
It has not been the practice to reveal when a prisoner has given an undertaking as to his future behaviour and I do not propose to depart from that practice.
If the Government were satisfied at any time that no threat to the Constitution or the law would be involved in their doing so they would be prepared to review the situation.
