Deputy Bill Cotter gave me notice of his intention to raise the matter as to the continued closure of Border roads, the inconvenience to people living in Border areas and the preservation of inter-community concourse. The Deputy has five minutes to present his case and the Minister has five minutes to reply.
Adjournment Debate. - Border Roads Closure.
I want to thank you, a Cheann Comhairle, for giving me the opportunity of raising this very urgent matter this evening. I am sure the Minister has had an opportunity to think about it and will give me a satisfactory response. The closure of Border roads protects nobody from terrorism. This action has taken away people's freedom of movement, has alienated communities and has played into the hands of terrorists. There should be a basic principle that every anti-terrorist action be carefully examined to assess its effect on the morale of the population at large. Will specific policies and actions alienate sections of the population? If so they should not be pursued. If such policies are in place they should be abandoned if they lead to disaffection.
I understand fully, coming from a Border constituency, how difficult it is to fight terrorism. However, policies and actions which alienate people and lead to disaffection simply play into the hands of terrorists and subversive organisations. The closure of Border roads is one such example. It forces people to travel long distances to see relatives and friends who live just a short distance away. The same problem arises for people who have to tend stock on outfarms or indeed for people who want to buy goods in their local village. This policy — this is probably one very important aspect of it — prevents the intermingling of communities and therefore runs counter to the spirit of reconciliation which we in this House wish to foster. It is also obviously contrary to the principles of the EC Single Market, but above all it gives a pivotal role to subversives who offer leadership to the disaffected.
Every weekend groups of people take the law into their own hands and set about re-opening these roads. They are offered leadership by people who most assuredly do not support this House or our policies with regard to the difficulties in Northern Ireland. They are obviously getting support, albeit half hearted, from the local communities who are entirely disaffected by this policy. I am well aware that the alternative to closing Border roads is somewhat more expensive and might stretch the resources of the authorities North and South. However, the problem could be dealt with by introducing a system of intensive patrols along the Border. In that way many people who through no fault of their own find themselves in this position would not be disaffected by the lawful authorities and would be able to go about their business in the normal way. It would take out of the hands of the terrorists the position of leadership which they have managed to gain in this whole matter.
I would say to the Minister that this is a very urgent matter because there is considerable disquiet in Border areas with the continuation of this practice. For that reason I am very glad that the Ceann Comhairle gave me the opportunity of raising the matter this evening. I hope the Minister will be able to offer some indication that he and the Government will do all in their power to try to redress the problem.
I would like to thank Deputy Cotter for raising the matter this evening and I have noted his very constructive comments carefully.
The Government are fully aware of the difficulties caused for local communities along the Border by closed cross-Border roads and have every sympathy for people whose daily lives are disrupted by these measures. Last May I visited County Leitrim where I saw for myself the practical problems faced by local communities as a result of closed roads and heard the views and frustrations of a wide range of local people on the matter. I reported my findings to the Minister, who, in his capacity as Joint Chairman of the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, has repeatedly raised the question of closed Border roads with the British authorities at meetings of the conference and through the Anglo-Irish Secretariat in Belfast, where the matter is the subject of detailed and ongoing consideration.
While there is undoubtedly a strong case for reopening closed Border crossings, it must be borne in mind that there are serious security considerations arising from the continuing campaign of violence which make it difficult to make progress on this issue. Deputy Cotter will be aware of the recent attempted "human bomb" attack on the British Army checkpoint at Annaghmartin which would undoubtedly have caused serious loss of life and destruction had it succeeded. I am sure Deputy Cotter will join with me in condemning this and other similar IRA attacks which show an utter disregard for human life. Such attacks inevitably place added obstacles in the way of our efforts to secure the reopening of closed Border crossings.
Attacks of this kind make it necessary to weigh the security considerations carefully against the negative economic and social effects of the crossings remaining closed. It is, of course, the general public, as Deputy Cotter rightly pointed out, in Border areas who have suffered most as a result of these IRA attacks and of the measures such as closed roads and permanent vehicle checkpoints, which the British authorities have taken in response to the security threat.
While we all appreciate the need for appropriate security measures, the Government are also concerned that law abiding members of the public on both sides of the Border should suffer the minimum inconvenience as a result of these measures. As I have already pointed out, the Minister has raised these difficulties repeatedly with the British authorities with a view to ensuring that the views of local communities are taken into account in their consideration of these matters.
I understand that the British authorities are keeping the situation under review and I would like to assure Deputy Cotter that the Government will continue to draw attention, through the mechanism of the Anglo-Irish Conference, to the problems experienced by people in Border areas and to their views on particular road closures. We will also continue to urge that road closures should only be maintained where there are the most persuasive security reasons for doing so. Again I assure Deputy Cotter that I have taken careful note of his suggestions.