Vol. 291 No. 15
asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Government will protest through every available diplomatic channel to the South African Government on the recent mass killings in the Soweto African township; and if he will urge that impartial international observers be allowed to attend the inquiry into the killings.
39.
asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement concerning the Irish Government's attitude to the recent violent political upheavals in South Africa.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take questions Nos. 38 and 39 together.
I am glad to have this opportunity to make a statement on the recent tragic events in South Africa. I deeply deplore what has happened and I am sure that all Deputies will join with me in expressing shock at the largescale loss of innocent lives and in expressing sympathy to the injured and bereaved. The Government fully associates itself with the terms of UN Security Council Resolution 392 (1976), adopted on Saturday, the 19th, which strongly condemned the South African Government for its resort to massive violence.
We in Ireland are particularly aware of the destructive potential inherent in policies of discrimination and the South African Government can be under no illusion as to the fundamental attitude of the Irish Government and people on this issue. The Government have consistently condemned the policy of apartheid, which we consider intrinsically evil in character and I have repeatedly emphasised, as did my predecessors in this office, that the repressive policies of the South African Government in implementing the apartheid system would, if unchanged, inevitably have disastrous consequences.
Ireland does not have direct diplomatic links with South Africa but following the recent tragic events there I would again urge the South African Government in the strongest possible terms to initiate a programme of radical change, without which disaster will be inevitable.
I understand that the South African Government have indicated their intention to investigate the events at Soweto, but the precise details are not known to me. I would strongly urge the South African Government to ensure that the inquiry is conducted in a manner that will satisfy both those inside and outside South Africa as to the impartiality of the results. This of course, will not solve the underlying problem but it may at least prevent a repetition of recent tragic events. The underlying problems cannot however but continue to increase unless the Government of South Africa begins to take steps leading to the complete dismantlement of the unjust and dangerous system of apartheid.
