asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the action the Government propose to take arising from the reported comments at Houston, Texas, of the Chief Constable of the RUC.
Written Answers. - Comments of RUC Chief Constable.
16.
As the Deputy is aware, I have already taken action on this matter. On 21 October, on my instructions, the British Ambassador was summoned to my Department and was received by the Secretary of the Department. If I had not been absent from Dublin at that time I would, of course, have seen the Ambassador myself. The Ambassador was left in no doubt that the remarks attributed to Sir John Hermon which were publicised in press reports in the Toronto Sun and the Houston Post on 17 October and which reflected upon the security policy of the Government were completely unfounded and damaging to Garda-RUC co-operation. An immediate investigation of these reports was sought together with an explanation of the remarks attributed to Sir John Hermon.
In response, the British Government have stated their view that Sir John Hermon's remarks to the conference in Houston were seriously misrepresented and have assured the Irish Government that they greatly appreciated the measures which have been taken in co-operation with the security forces in Northern Ireland to prevent acts of violence on both sides of the Border.
On the basis of this statement I am satisfied that the news reports which have appeared on Sir John Hermon's remarks in Houston do not represent the views of the British Government — and I have been assured by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland that they do not represent the views of the head of the RUC — in relation to the Irish Government's security policy or the level of security co-operation with the Northern Ireland authorities. The reports to which the Deputy refers, therefore, warrant no further action.