asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if, in the light of comments by Nationalist representatives in the North, he will reconsider his advice to Northern nationalists to join the RUC now.
Ceisteann—Questions. Oral Answers. - Advice to Northern Nationalists.
23.
I want to assure the Deputy that I always listen carefully to the views of the representatives of constitutional nationalism in Northern Ireland. It would be to the advantage of all of us in this House if everybody here did likewise.
In the television programme marking the anniversary of the Anglo Irish Agreement, I said that I was glad to pay tribute to the RUC, that in my view the RUC had changed greatly in the last 12 months and that I would be happy to see young men making a career in the RUC. I stand over that statement.
Article 7 of the Anglo Irish Agreement sets out the object of making the security forces more readily acceptable to the nationalist community and specifically mentions "action to increase the proportion of members of the minority in the RUC". Paragraph 8 of the Hillsborough communique stated that the Intergovernmental Conference would at their first meeting address the improvement of relations between the security forces and nationalists and would consider ways of underlining the policy of the RUC and of the armed forces in Northern Ireland that they discharge their duties even-handedly and with equal respect for the unionist and nationalist identities and traditions. I can tell the Deputy that the Intergovernmental Conference at their first meeting and at their meetings since then have been addressing these issues as set out in Article 7 of the Agreement and paragraph 8 of the communiqué.
I have on many occasions placed on record the Government's appreciation of the professionalism and dedication of the RUC in enforcing the law even-handedly and in protecting nationalists as well as unionists — particularly during the summer marching season when the members of the RUC and their families were under the constant threat of intimidation and attack from the IRA and loyalist paramilitaries.
Would the Minister not agree that, in the light of the cover up of the Stalker affair, the continued use by the RUC of plastic bullets and Supergrasses and the handling of the marches on 12 July last, the nationalist population have no reason to have complete confidence in the RUC? Would the Minister now agree that his call to nationalists to join the RUC was made without adequate consideration of the difficulties on the ground and of the sensitivities of the situation? Would the Minister also agree that he was clearly exaggerating or over-estimating the benefits of the Anglo Irish Agreement to date if he thought sufficient progress had been made to enable nationalists to join the RUC?
I said on that occasion that one of the objectives of the Anglo Irish Agreement was to increase the confidence of the nationalist minority in Northern Ireland in the administration of justice and the security forces. Anybody who has looked at television in the last 12 months will see that it was not the nationalists whom the RUC were attacking and that the RUC were not being attacked by Nationalists. Again, I pay tribute to the courage, dedication and professionalism of the RUC over the last 12 months. I am sure it would be unnatural if every single member of a force that size should change completely in that time. There are bound to be individual Nationalists and pockets of Nationalists who will find fault or have cause for criticism of individual officers or a group of officers of the RUC but generally in the last 12 months the RUC have behaved in a professional and even-handed way. It would be a suitable career for many young men in Northern Ireland if they wish to join the RUC. Keeping the law is a very honorable thing to do.
So John Stalker found out.
That concludes Question Time.
Can I raise on the Adjournment the imminent closure of the sugar beet compaign in Tuam, County Galway?
The Deputy is too late.
These rules are changing.
The answer to that is that the Deputy should learn them.
Might I suggest that the Deputy should take a crash course in them.