Deputy O'Kennedy sought, and has been given, permission to raise on the Adjournment the subject matter of a Private Notice Question submitted today and ruled out of order for Private Notice by the Chair.
Adjournment Debate. - Irish Prisoners in Britain.
I am obliged to you for allowing me to raise this matter. In Lancaster Court in 1975 six Birmingham based Irishmen — I think it is as well to put their names on the record: Bill Power, Dick McIlkenny, Paddy Hill, Hugh Callaghan, Gerry Hunter and John Walker — were sentenced to life imprisonment for convictions in respect of the horrendous events in Birmingham on Thursday, 21 November 1974, when 21 people were killed and 161 maimed or seriously injured.
It is common cause in this House that even now, 11 years later, we are all united in our condemnation and abhorrence of those terrible events. We repudiate the attempt by anyone to associate those events with Irish Republicanism, what it has represented over the years and what we hope it will develop into in the future.
As a consequence of those convictions and the general attitude in Britain at the time, there was a perhaps understandable revulsion against the Irish community, and particularly very strong and bitter feelings were directed against those six convicted men. The House will recall that, soon after that the then Home Secretary, Mr. Roy Jenkins, introduced what was described as the Temporary Prevention of Terrorism Act, which is still in force — I have had personal experience of that Act. That was introduced as an expression of the revulsion of the British people and the determination of the British Government to deal with people like those six men who were convicted of those horrific events. I want to give the background of this case because it is a major issue.
The Deputy must realise that the matter on the Adjournment relates to certain correspondence.
My question was to ask the Taoiseach if "information" and briefings recently conveyed to the media by the Government Press Secretary in relation to correspondence in November 1979 between former Ambassador Seán Donlon and US Congressman, Mr. Hamilton Fish, were issued with his knowledge or authority and if he will make a full and detailed statement on the matter in view of the very serious issues involved. I am now dealing with the very serious issues involved and the implications particularly of the role I was alleged to have played in attempting to obstruct any inquiries into those very serious issues.
They were horrendous events and the consequences for the people maimed, injured or killed, and their families were very serious, and the same is true for these six men who were convicted. This case was appealed and the appeal was dealt with in May 1976. The same Lord Widgery, whose name is not unknown to us because of the very sad and tragic experience in Derry, in the Court of Appeal upheld the sentence, despite pleas that the confessions had been obtained because of beatings by warders and ill treatment of the accused men.
I want to bring one other matter before the House because it is very important. Because of complaints of ill treatment in the court at that time, 14 prison officers were arraigned for trial. The then Lord Denning in the course of his decision on the trial of the prison officers, who were acquitted, said:
If the six men win it will mean that the police were guilty of perjury, violence and threats, that the confessions were involuntary and were improperly admitted and that the convictions were erroneous. The Home Secretary would then have to recommend that they be pardoned or remit the case to the Court of Appeal. This is such an appalling vista that every sensible person in the land would say "It cannot be right that these actions would go any further. They should be struck out".
He was saying that the complaints of the Birmingham six should be struck out. Every Irish person, anyone conscious of the impact of those horrible events in 1974, the trial in 1975, the attitudes expressed by the judges, is aware of our obligations and would repudiate violence and ensure that justice would not only be done but be seen to be done.
That was the climate which prevailed when I was Minister for Foreign Affairs. In my capacity as Minister for Foreign Affairs I recall talking to, among others, Father Raymond Murray, with whom I spent 90 minutes or two hours in this House in 1978. We did not discuss the evidence because it had not surfaced at that time, but we did discuss treatment of Irish prisoners in British jails. The only discussion I as a Fianna Fáil Minister or my officials on my behalf, but with my knowledge and authority, had about matters pertaining to the men convicted of the Birmingham bombings or others serving sentences in British jails, or in Long Kesh, was to raise more than once — I cannot recall the exact number of times but I know it was at least twice — with the then Secretary of State, Mr. Roy Mason at ministerial level, the treatment of Irish prisioners in British jails and our concern that basic justice would be done, and would be seen to be done. That was the record until very recently.
Because of very painstaking research carried out by the "World in Action" team very serious doubts were cast on the evidence and the basis on which the evidence against the Birmingham six was prepared and presented in court. It is not my function or the function of this House to go into this matter in great detail, but I will summarise the main points very briefly. Sufficient information emerged from that programme, which had not been previously available to any of us — I am not sure if it was available to the Minister or the Taoiseach, but I do not suppose it was — to at least raise the gravest doubts that the evidence on which the six men were convicted was evidence which would stand up in any court of law. These men were convicted on the basis of tests carried out for traces of nitro-glycerine. It emerged in the course of that television presentation that this could happen and there seems to be very good evidence to support this.
The seriousness of all this raises the question of the conduct of the Government Press Secretary. These people could have had traces of nitro-glycerine on their hands from something as simple as smoking or even card playing, which it is suggested they were engaged in on the night in question. Understandably, there was a very strong feeling in this country, which was echoed in this House in questions to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, that we all had an obligation to do something to right the wrong, to ensure that the fullest possible investigation would be conducted and that justice would be done and seen to be done to the Birmingham six. Deputy David Andrews raised the matter in the House and the Minister for Foreign Affairs indicated—
The Deputy is straying very far away from the question.
The allegation in respect of my lack of concern is of little consequence by contrast with the issue itself. The House and the nation were concerned when a very painstaking piece of journalism was undertaken by Kevin Dawson of The Sunday Tribune. The public and the press asked questions and when that happened the ever active Government Press Secretary decided it was time to put his version of who was responsible for certain events in Washington in 1979. In the knowledge that this was now a matter of grave public concern he decided it was time to disseminate not information but misinformation. This is from a paid servant of the Government selected by them to put their version of the story before the Irish people. As a consequence of the detailed article by Kevin Dawson in The Sunday Tribune it was clear that something had to be done and somebody had to be blamed. Who was to be blamed? The Government Press Secretary sees it as his job to engage in propaganda on behalf of the Government and to point the finger at the former Government, particularly the former Minister for Foreign Affairs.
The correspondence in November 1979 between former Ambassador Seán Donlon and US Congressman Hamilton Fish has been the subject of widespread media and public interest and concern in recent days. The Government Press Secretary, Mr. Peter Prendergast, is quoted in The Irish Times of Monday, 4 November as saying that if the Irish Embassy in Washington had done anything it would have “been on instructions from the Government in Dublin”. This is in relation to reports that the then Irish Ambassador, Seán Donlon, had communicated with Congressman Fish to the effect that he should have nothing to do with Fr. Raymond Murray in his attempts to raise the evidence on which the Birmingham six were convicted. The ever-active disseminator of Government propaganda, Mr. Peter Prendergast, could not wait to give the impression that if this had been done by Ambassador Donlon it was on the instructions of the Government in Dublin. The same report added:
At the time of the allegations against Mr. Donlon Fianna Fáil was in power and the Minister for Foreign Affairs was Mr. Michael O'Kennedy.
I want to make no comment on the fact that Ambassador Donlon, who is now Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, has chosen not to comment. That is his right as a public servant. It is a judgment he is entitled to make as of right. However, I cannot leave implications on the record because of the actions of the Government Press Secretary, who is not earning a reputation for accuracy and respect from all sides of the House which he should have, that on my instructions Congressman Hamilton Fish was told by the then Ambassador not to inquire publicly in Congress behind the evidence on which the Birmingham six were convicted. The very opposite is true. The clear intention of Mr. Prendergast was to convey the impression that the letter in question was issued on my instructions. There is no basis whatsoever for this impression. I did not give any instructions to issue the letter in question nor was any approval sought from me for such a letter.
From inquiries I have made in the Department of Foreign Affairs I can confirm that the only action I took as Minister for Foreign Affairs in relation to the people convicted of the Birmingham bombing was to raise the matter personally in ministerial discussions with the British Government and to authorise continuing discussions at official level on that and other related matters to do with the treatment of Irish prisoners in jails in Britain and the North of Ireland.
On one occasion I remember having a very lengthy and detailed discussion with Fr. Raymond Murray in my office in this House. It was a detailed, satisfactory and informative discussion. I should like to pay tribute to Fr. Murray's consistent concern and to Fr. Denis Faul, who has also been a consistent promoter of justice and has never been afraid to criticise violence from whatever source, be it the institutionalised violence of the security forces in the North or of the IRA. I have had the privilege of meeting and discussing those events with both those men.
I am informed without any doubt by the Department of Foreign Affairs that in the past few days no statement or comment of any kind issued from that Department on these issues. This was a deliberate decision which I do not criticise. Any "information" or briefing to the media in the past few days has emanated solely and exclusively from Mr. Peter Prendergast, Government Press Secretary and misinformation officer. Some of the points made have been repudiated by a very honourable Member of this House, Deputy Professor John Kelly, regarding the role he was supposed to have played in these events. It is time to stop that kind of propaganda on a matter as serious as this, not just for Deputy O'Kennedy, former Minister, but for the people concerned. To imply that any former Minister was so ill-concerned for the fundamental issues involved as to instruct his ambassador to write a letter to ensure that it could not be raised in Congress is a major issue.
I welcome the fact that the Taoiseach is in the House, as well as the Minister for Foreign Affairs. He should take the opportunity to put the record straight and repudiate the actions of the Government Press Secretary in this regard. If there is a statement to be issued on behalf of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the current Secretary and a former Ambassador, that statement should come from people who know a little more about the facts and the history and who are much more aware of the procedures in foreign affairs, and not from a gentleman who has done little to promote truth and accuracy in political reporting.
In reply to a Press query from Ella Shanahan in The Irish Times about a letter from the then Ambassador Donlon to Congressman Hamilton Fish on 6 November 1979 after consultation with the Department of Foreign Affairs and with their authority the Government Press Secretary said:
If the Irish Embassy in Washington had done anything it would have been on instructions from Dublin. Fianna Fáil were in Government at the time.
He gave no further information or briefings and initiated no contacts with the Press at any time on this matter. I point out in saying this much that the Government Press Secretary was simply stating the general position in regard to the context in which Irish representatives abroad act.
Ambassador Donlon's letter to Congressman Hamilton Fish did not — as Deputy O'Kennedy appeared to imply and I hope he will withdraw this fully as it was denied, as I will point out later, by a Minister of his Government — make representations to him about the Birmingham six, and Ambassador Donlon made that clear in a letter of 10 January 1980 to Father Raymond Murray in which he said: "At no stage have I made representations to Congressman Fish in the matter of the six Irishmen convicted of the Birmingham bombings in 1974." His letter of 11 November 1979 was written in pursuance of a policy enunciated by the then Taoiseach, Deputy Jack Lynch, in a letter to Congressman Biaggi of 17 February 1978.
This letter from the then Taoiseach was written at the instance of Deputy O'Kennedy who proposed it in draft form to the then Taoiseach under cover of a letter of the same date. The policy put forward by the then Taoiseach — it was consistent with that of the preceding Government — was one of opposing the Irish National Caucus which in this letter the then Taoiseach described as "closely associated with the cause of violence in Northern Ireland" and which the Leader of the Opposition today, Deputy Haughey, his successor as Taoiseach, referred to in a speech on 27 July 1980 in Cork in the following terms: "The evidence available to us also of the associations that exist between NORAID and the Irish National Caucus casts grave suspicion on the latter organisation."
Subsequent to these events, on 11 January 1980 the then Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Government led by Deputy Haughey, that is Deputy Brian Lenihan, wrote to Father Murray and Father Faul in the following terms and I quote the letter in full:
Dear Father Murray and Father Faul,
I have received your letter and enclosure of 28 December last concerning your representations to the Ambassador in Washington. The Ambassador is replying directly to the letter addressed to him by you and Father Brady.
I have already quoted from that letter. I continue to quote:
I and the Government have full confidence in Ambassador Donlon and his staff. His conversations with Congressman Fish have not touched on the case of those convicted of the Birmingham bombings of 1974. They have been about the Congressman's interest in promoting contacts between elected representatives from both parts of Ireland and US elected representatives.
The whole of what Deputy O'Kennedy has said, has been, therefore, on a false premise——
That is not true.
——involving an apparent imputation against Ambassador Donlon that he did something which Deputy Lenihan as Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Government of Deputy Haughey denied was done and which——
I did not say that. The Taoiseach is misrepresenting——
——Ambassador Donlon himself denied was done in his communication to Father Raymond Murray.
(Interruptions.)
Order.
In the light of the facts as I have set them out, including the letter from Deputy Lenihan as Minister for Foreign Affairs which I have just read, I submit to the House that the Government Press Secretary was totally justified in indicating to the Press that any action taken by the Irish Embassy in Washington in this matter in November 1979 was fully authorised and completely in accord with established Government policies. I trust that Deputy O'Kennedy——
That is not what I said.
——who erroneously came to believe that he was in some way being singled out unfairly, will now have the generosity to recognise this publicly.
Twisting as usual.
On instructions of the Government.
(Interruptions.)
I should like to add that the Government and I recognise that Father Murray and, of course, Father Faul, who has worked closely with Father Murray in this and many other instances of human concern cases, have been motivated by a sincere concern for the protection of human rights.
Finally, I should tell the House that, following the most recent representations by the Government which follow a series of other representations by successive Governments that were initiated when I was Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1976, the Government have been informed by the British Government that the Home Secretary, who has been presented with new material about the case of the Birmingham six, is considering very carefully whether it would be appropriate to refer the case to the Court of Appeal and that the matter is being dealt with very urgently.
(Interruptions.)
The Dáil adjourned at 9 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 6 November 1985.