Vol. 395 No. 4
13 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Irish Government have made any recent approach to the South African authorities seeking the unconditional release from prison of the jailed African National Congress Leader, Nelson Mandela; the response to any such representations; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
17 Mr. Taylor asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if, on behalf of the Government, he will issue an invitation to Nelson Mandela to visit Ireland, if and when he is released from prison in South Africa; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
68 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if, as President of the Council of Ministers, he will put the final pressure on Mr. de Klerk, State President of South Africa, to release Nelson Mandela immediately; and if, upon his release, he will make a statement of welcome and support on behalf of the Irish people.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 13, 17 and 68 together.
The Government, who do not maintain diplomatic relations with South Africa, have not made any recent specific approach to the South African authorities regarding the release of Nelson Mandela. However, we have joined in regular calls by the Twelve for his release. In the light of the announcement last Friday by President de Klerk that Nelson Mandela will soon be freed unconditionally, the Government hope that further representations for his release are now unnecessary. However, on behalf of the Government, I wish to take this opportunity to urge President de Klerk to follow through on his announcement without further delay.
Nelson Mandela, if he is indeed released in the near future, will be a very welcome visitor to Ireland at any time. The Government would be more than happy to welcome and receive Mr. Mandela should he decide he would like to come to Ireland.
Should Mr. Mandela be released, it would be my intention, on behalf of the Government and people of Ireland, to welcome publicly a development which so many people have sought for so many years.
I thank the Minister for his reply. Will the Minister accept that a distinction must be drawn between saying that Nelson Mandela would be welcome if he came to Ireland and doing what I am asking him to do which is to extend a formal invitation from the Government to him to visit Ireland? Will the Minister confirm that he will issue an invitation to Nelson Mandela to visit Ireland and to perhaps address a joint assembly of the Dáil and the Seanad?
The Deputy understands that I would need a formal Government decision on that. As of now, I have not got that, but I am prepared to recommend that decision to the Government.
Can the Minister confirm that policy in the Department of Foreign Affairs is now changed, and that they and the Minister are willing to meet members of the ANC now that that organisation is no longer banned? It has been the policy of successive heads of Department not to directly meet members of the ANC. Since Nelson Mandela is a member of the ANC and seeing that the Minister is prepared to meet him, is he also prepared to meet ANC members?
That is a fairly logical conclusion for the Deputy to arrive at.
Will the Minister assure the House that while we all welcome the intention of the South African authorities to release Nelson Mandela, since he is still in prison and the state of emergency is still largely in place as is the apartheid system, this Government, especially in our role in the European Community, will ensure that normalisation of affairs with South Africa will not take place until the apartheid system is dismantled and confirm that simply having a market economy is not sufficient to guarantee our support for them?
The Deputy's supplementary is very relevant and I thank him for it. The question of sanctions has been raised recently and there is much speculation that the sanctions will be lifted. The 12 Heads of Government in 1985 at the summit in the second half of 1985 agreed in principle on the sanctions that were to be maintained.
And the Irish Government recommend further sanctions.
That is right. There has been an announcement by President De Klerk that Nelson Mandela will be released. We await his release. This Government and previous Governments are committed to the abolition of apartheid. There is a long way to go yet but at least there are indications of a shift in policy in South Africa. Obviously a number of legislative measures must be passed. The classification legislation is still there for instance. There were discussions, lasting no longer than a few minutes at our meeting in Brussels on Monday on the question of sanctions. There is a view held by one or two of our colleagues in the Community that sanctions should be lifted somewhat.
Guess who?
I will not get into the guessing game for obvious reasons, but the Deputy will agree that the statement I issued on behalf of the Twelve on Monday night clearly sets out our position bearing in mind our obligations and our commitment to the abolition of apartheid. The first step has been made on a long road towards the abolition of apartheid.
The point I wished to make has been made by Deputy De Rossa and answered by the Minister but would the Minister agree that this first welcome initiative by the South African Government is not the end of apartheid and that we should not be too euphoric about it?
I totally agree. We must be very careful as to how we proceed and we must continue to exercise as much influence as we can on President De Klerk and his Government so as to abolish apartheid——
While appreciating his difficult job.
We accept that. The Deputy knows that at the Human Rights Convention in Geneva, on Friday morning last I welcomed the decision to release Nelson Mandela but I pointed out that we still had a long way to go.
That disposes of questions for today.
I wish to raise on the Adjournment this evening the deplorable conditions at Crinkle National School which have been considerably worsened because of the weather during the last few days.
I will communicate with the Deputy.
I wish to raise on the Adjournment the decision to close down on Friday next a pre-school playgroup which has operated for the last four years in St. Aidan's Primary School, Brookfield, Tallaght. Obviously the matter is particularly urgent.
I will communicate with the Deputy.
I wish to raise on the Adjournment the serious flooding problem which is developing at the moment in the Athy area because of the flooding of the Barrow.
I will be in touch with the Deputy about that matter.
