Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 25 May 2016
216. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the meetings he has had with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland or with the Executive parties in view of recent murders and the escalation of violence in parts of Belfast; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12104/16]
View answerThere have been three murders in Belfast in recent months – those of Adrian Ismay, Michael McGibbon, and Dan Murray – and a number of shootings. Each was a brutal act of criminality which should have no place in our society. I would encourage anyone with information regarding any of these crimes to bring it to the PSNI. My thoughts and sympathies are with the families and friends of those affected, and with those who were wounded in other shooting incidents. I visited the Holy Cross monastery in North Belfast last week, to meet with community representatives and to show my solidarity with them in their ongoing work towards building a reconciled Belfast. While there, I met with the widow of Michael McGibbon and expressed to her my condolences and those of the Government.
Since my reappointment as Minister, I spoke with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Theresa Villiers. We are both firmly resolved to ensure that there is progress on matters of mutual cooperation, including our commitment under the Fresh Start Agreement to achieve a society free of paramilitarism and to reinforce efforts to tackle organised crime and criminality.
That work is already underway, including through the formation of a Joint Agency Task Force to tackle cross-border organised crime. That Task Force is led by senior officers from the PSNI, An Garda Síochána, the Revenue Commissioners and HM Revenue and Customs.
I look forward to working closely with the new Stormont Executive when it is formed, including the incoming Minister for Justice, in taking forward these issues.
