I move:
That, whereas freedom of movement is a basic civil right, and whereas the IRA's disruption by bombs and threats of bombings is a denial of this right, Dáil Éireann condemns the IRA for:
(a) disrupting this service which has linked the people of Dublin and Belfast for over a century;
(b) putting the lives of passengers and rail staff at risk;
(c) threatening the jobs of railway workers;
and calls on the Government to take all practical steps which are necessary to keep the lines open.
This motion arises from the participation by a number of Deputies, Senators and others in the peace train protest last October. I understand that a similar motion has been tabled in the Seanad. I would be very surprised if the Provisional IRA were to pay any attention to the motion. The disruption of the rail link has been widely condemned by almost all sectors of public opinion in this country, North and South, without any apparent effect. However, there are others, particularly people outside the country, who in one way or another support the Provisional IRA and they may pay some attention to what our national Parliament has to say. They may be guided by it to discontinue their support for that murderous organisation.
The motion refers to civil rights. I remember well the early days of the civil rights campaign in the North when the sympathy of responsible opinion everywhere in the world was on the side of the minority Catholic, Nationalist community in the North for what were considered and seemed to be their just demands. The sympathy of the whole world was on our side. Then the Provisional IRA came into existence and, because of the way they developed their campaign, because of the murderousness of their campaign, because of their massacres and butcheries by their sectarianism, public opinion in this part of the island and elsewhere in the world began to change. Over a period of time we suddenly found that even Orange bigots were becoming respected. That was because of the murderous campaign that was being waged against them by the Provisional IRA who started to do things which people found totally inexplicable. As we know, some awful things have happened, some things which have been far worse than the disruption of the rail link between North and South. The disruption of that rail link is another example of the stupidity of the actions of the Provisional IRA as well as the immorality of them.
Why do they do this, is the question most often asked in relation to the disruption of the Belfast-Dublin railway line. What political, military or other advantage does the IRA gain from disrupting this railway line, putting the lives of passengers and rail staff at risk, threatening the jobs of railway workers, causing inconvenience and financial loss, particularly to people who do not have or who cannot afford to own a car? Why do they do it? Is it part of the so-called economic war? If it is, how many bombings, how many disruptions, how many decades will it be before the political will of the British Government is changed? Is the reason military in that the blowing up of the line and the hoax warnings provide opportunities for booby traps and ambushes? Again, if this is so they have not been very successful from the IRA's point of view.
The British know how to deal with these threats. They have learned over years of experience how to deal with them. They take a lot of precautions to ensure the protection of their personnel using aerial and other surveillance. Is it to tie down the maximum numbers of security forces? If so, they have not been very successful in this game either. The British Government have not allowed that to happen.
The inconvenience to the public has always rated a much lower position on their priority scale than military considerations and the safety of members of the security forces. I understand that. Does the reason lie in the symbolism of the railway line? A symbol it certainly is, but hardly, one would have thought, the sort of symbol the IRA find useful in its cause. The Dublin-Belfast line is symbolic of the unity of this country. The IRA is supposed to be fighting for the unity of this country and how is that aim assisted by continually blowing up a major link and symbol of the unity to which I have referred? How do they explain, for example, to an Irish American supporter that the unity of the country is hastened by blowing up one of the things that unites us? Surely even such a very gullible supporter — they have to be very gullible to continue to support the IRA — would wonder why it is not those who are opposed to unity of the country who are blowing up the railway line rather than those who ostensibly support unity. The most gullible of them must wonder about that. Again, why do they do it? None of the so-called justifications, whether economic, military or symbolic, explain why they continue to bomb this line. The answer to the question, a Cheann Comhairle, is that the destruction of the Belfast-Dublin railway line has more to do with "Mafiaism" than it has to do with patriotism.
There are economic implications but they have nothing to do with the so-called economic war. The economy that concerns them is the economic future of the godfathers of violence and the sneaking regarders who support them. A Cheann Comhairle, I have to be careful. My hatred and contempt for the Provisional IRA and all that murderous organisation stands for does not blind me to the fact there are in the North other equally contemptible organisations on the extreme Unionist side also looking for excuses and for justification for killings. I do not intend to give them any excuse by going further and being more specific. All I will say is this: there are people who have a financial vested interest in disruption of the rail line. There are direct vested interests and indirect vested interests. In the latter category I will put the dilemma of people who are more accessable to demands for protection than are the railway authorities. For those who would wish to inquire further I recommend the old Latin tag qui bono— to whose benefit? I think that would be a useful thing to recommend. A Cheann Comhairle, it is my privilege to propose the motion and recommend it not only to this Government but to the other one concerned.