Vol. 255 No. 9
andMr. Begley asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if representations have been made to the British Government to hold an impartial inquiry into the two recent fatal shootings in Derry; if a reply has been received; and, if so, whether he will state the contents of such reply.
4.
asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if, in view of the decision of the Social Democratic and Labour Party Members of the Northern Ireland Parliament to withdraw from Stormont unless an inquiry is held into the recent deaths of two civilians in Derry, he will as a matter of urgency make representations to the British Home Secretary to ensure that such an inquiry is held.
5.
asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs whether he will make representations to the British Government to establish a public inquiry into the shooting in Derry of Séamus Cusack and Desmond Beatty by British troops.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 3, 4 and 5 together.
At noon on Friday last our ambassador in London, on instructions from the Taoiseach, made urgent representations to the British authorities. The British authorities were urged to arrange for a special inquiry into the two fatal shootings in question and to announce it immediately. The value of announcing an inquiry at that time would have been its effect in allaying the grave disquiet and sense of alienation from authority of the people of Derry.
Would the Minister agree that the decision forced on the Opposition in Stormont to establish an alternative assembly and withdraw from Stormont because of the refusal of Stormont to grant an inquiry signals a deepening of the northern crisis and would he agree that in present circumstances all our diplomatic effort with Britain should be directed towards getting a new administrative deal for that area, which would be confined to Northern Ireland——
That would be a separate question.
——and would not necessarily be tied to any solution for unity and would the Minister agree that the issue now——
These questions deal with an inquiry.
——is one of war and peace and that, therefore, all our diplomatic effort should be directed towards getting a settlement of the northern problem in our contacts with the British?
The Deputy is enlarging the scope of the question.
May I ask the Minister if he will reply to Deputy O'Leary?
The Chair has already decided that the question being put by Deputy O'Leary is outside the scope of the questions asked.
The Chair's interpretation, with due respect, is unduly southernish republican.
The Chair's rulings on matters should not be referred to by the Deputy in that manner.
Hear, hear.
I regret the extremely narrow interpretation——
The Chair certainly takes exception to the Deputy's interpretation of that ruling.
My regrets. Does the Minister accept that on the basis of reports of all impartial observers of these shootings a prima facie case seems to exist for an impartial public inquiry? Would he personally convey this view to the British Foreign Secretary and the Home Secretary thus avoiding further bitterness, bloodshed and recriminations?
The Deputy may not have heard that at noon on last Friday we made it quite clear what we felt was the action that should be taken. I did add, and I think it is an answer to Deputy O'Leary, that the value of an inquiry at that time would have had the effect of allaying anxiety and the feeling of alienation from authority which exists. I would not like anybody to get the impression that there was any consultation or otherwise between any of us here or the Opposition parties' decision in the North of Ireland. All I would say is that in a very abnormal situation, such as exists there, one has to sympathise with elected representatives anywhere who feel that their representations have been refused an adequate response. The action that has now been taken does, I believe, create a very serious situation.
Would the Minister consider taking further steps in view of the now almost final withdrawal of the members of the Opposition parties——
The Labour Party have not withdrawn.
You do not understand.
Would the Minister consider any further initiative? I do not think we should merely lapse into despair. I am sure the Minister accepts the view that further initiatives could possibly be taken by the Government if necessary in consultation with the leaders of the Opposition parties on a joint basis. Would the Minister consider that type of approach?
The House can take it that you do not have to ask us to take initiatives. The situation in the north has taken a certain turn which the Government realised it would take. For that reason we made representations to allay anxieties and certain frustrations and so prevent that happening. The development of the situation in the north is bound to involve us and we have consistently been making representations and proposals and expressing the views of the northern minority and we intend to continue to do so.
I wanted to ask the Minister whether we would direct all our efforts—this is very important on our part—to getting a settlement confined to that area? If we have asked in the last few days for the British to make a certain move under the Ireland Act equally on our part there should be a constructive attempt to help the situation. I think that would be helped by not having suggested solutions from our side tied automatically to ideas of unity, in other words——
This is very important. We are not playing politics in this situation. We are talking about a whole community rending itself apart. I think down here we must make certain sacrifices to gain that sort of co-operation in the area. It has reached the point of seriousness now that our diplomatic efforts with the British should be devoted to getting a settlement confined to the area in a new form of administration which would be confined to the area.
Deputies will be aware that from the very beginning of the most recent activity in the situation— when I say recent I mean about two years—we have dealt with the immediate problem. Deputies may remember that we took the problem of civil rights and reforms as being the one for immediate handling and we sought to have that dealt with in so far as we could influence the situation. The present situation as I see it is this gap between the elected representation of a sizeable part of the community there and authority and this will have to be handled, but I do not think there is any reason in the world to drop any other aspect of our policy to seek these solutions.
