I raise this matter on the Adjournment in view of the unsatisfactory answer I got from the Minister today to Question No. 35. I want to say straight away that I do not think there is anything sinister about the manner in which the Minister replied to the question. I am quite sure he answered it in accordance with the information made available to him. However, I suggest that some valid and vital information might not have been made available to him in this connection. Therefore, I propose to recapitulate and to convey to the Minister the facts of the matter as I see them, as the journalists concerned see them and as the trade union catering for the journalists, the National Union of Journalists, see them as well. Very briefly—I do not want to bore the Minister or the House—the facts are as follows.
The Chief Reporter of the Cork Examiner and the staff reporter of Radio Éireann were informed on 17th of last month that this object had appeared on the strand at Ballycotton. In accordance with their duties, they were expected to proceed there and report on the situation. They did not go by stealth but went quite publicly. They left Cork about 6.30 a.m. and arrived in Ballycotton village some minutes after 7 a.m. while it was still dark, and naturally they parked their car outside the Garda barracks where there appeared to be a great deal of activity. The whole place was lighted up and there appeared to be great comings and goings of military as well as Garda personnel. They had taken the precaution of displaying the Press disc on their windscreen to indicate to any responsible person that they were there on behalf of the Press and that they were not just inquisitive people about other business; in other words, they made it quite clear that they were representing the Cork Examiner and the reporting staff of Radio Éireann. Both of them must have been well known to the officer in charge of the Army personnel there and to the gardaí as well.
They proceeded about their lawful business, and the car was inspected by a member of the Garda Síochána. He came over, looked at the car and saw the disc on the windscreen. An Army officer came over as well. When the Army personnel moved off in a certain direction, naturally the journalists, in pursuit of their duties, moved in that direction also. At no stage, even when the Army officer in charge bade them good-morning, did either the officer of the Army or the sergeant of the gardaí say: "You are not entitled to go down there and photograph this or make any report on it."
That is in strong contrast to the reply which the National Union of Journalists have received from the OC of the Southern Command who in the course of his letter to the secretary, in which he does apologise—I freely acknowledge that—says it was unfortunate that on arrival at Ballycotton the man involved did not speak to the officer in charge of security whom he saw at the Garda station, as, had he done so, the OC felt, he would have received full cooperation and advice from that officer.
I am suggesting to the Minister that that excuse is a bit thin. It is now being sought to put the blame on these journalists who were going about their lawful business, who were easily identifiable because of the disc on their car and who were identifiable because they are well-known journalists. It is being suggested that they should have said: "Please, sir, may we go down to the beach to see and photograph the object that is down there?"
It is my belief that it was an error of judgment in the first case on the part of the Army but that the Minister and his Department are now hiding behind the unfortunate corporal who carried out the physical assault on the two journalists concerned. It is quite clear that it is now being thrown back into the laps of the corporal and the private who was with him and who ran down from the cliffs and physically assaulted the journalists concerned. I am suggesting to the Minister that this Operation Ballycotton was carried out by the officers of the Southern Command in a very stupid and ignorant fashion and that they are not entitled to throw the whole blame on the unfortunate corporal there.
In this connection, I should like to know from the Minister, in any such emergency or alleged emergency, where does the Army take over from the gardaí; in other words, where does the military authority take over from the civil authority? It is quite clear that in the hours before the arrival of the journalists in Ballycotton there were high ranking officers from both the Garda and the Department of Defence in deep conclave in the barracks at Ballycotton. Any ordinary citizen, be he a journalist or otherwise, is entitled to know where the jurisdiction of the Garda ends and where the jurisdiction of the Army commences? Do not forget that it was said by a member of the Defence Forces to a civilian going about his lawful duties: "Regard yourself as being under arrest by the Army." That civilian was placed under arrest and it was only after some time that some officer came, apologised and released him from custody.
Everybody in this House, including the Minister, will agree, I think, that the Press have been a most loyal and most beneficial influence in the founding of any democracy. The only reason I raise this matter on the Adjournment is that I do not think there was anything particularly sinister about it but that I feel that even the slightest intervention by any State service, be they Garda or the Department of Defence, must be immediately nailed and it must be clearly stated that that kind of thing happens not to be the policy of our democratic Government.
It is no use saying, as I think the Minister endeavoured to convey to me today, that this was an unfortunate incident in which an unfortunate corporal made an error of judgment. That is not good enough, for the simple reason that it is not true. The corporal and the private were placed in charge of a certain area and they were told that unauthorised people should not intervene and there should be no question of unauthorised people taking photographs of the object on the beach. The chief photographer of the Cork Examiner and the staff reporter of Radio Éireann parked their car outside the Garda barracks, which was fully lighted up; they were seen; they were recognised. They were seen by the Army officers and by the Garda Síochána. They had a label on the windscreen indicating that they were “Press.” Those who saw them must have known why they were in Ballycotton; they were not there for the sake of a swim at seven o'clock in the morning. They must have known these men were going about their lawful business and nobody indicated at any time that they should not proceed to the beach.
My suggestion is that the whole thing was messed up by the officers who were sent out there in charge of the particular operation. I freely admit that has been admitted by the OC Southern Command, with this reservation: "It is unfortunate that on arrival in Ballycotton... did not speak to the officer in charge of security whom he saw near the Garda station". If the journalist and photographer were seen by the officer, surely the officer was equally seen by the journalist and the photographer and, unless he happened to be particularly dimwitted, he must have suspected what they were there for. It is a bit thick, to say the least of it, for the OC Southern Command to say the whole matter arose because the journalist did not approach the Army officer. If the officers concerned had made up their mind that not alone the public but journalists should not approach the beach it was their duty to warn them. They gave no warning and so these two men went along to do their lawful work, in the course of which they were physically assaulted.
I do not know if all the facts I am relating have been brought to the attention of the Minister and, while I appreciate that the Minister and the Army authorities have apologised to the journalists, the apology is not good enough if they seek to lay the blame for the whole thing on the unfortunate corporal. The blame rests with the officers in charge and I would like the Minister to note that.
In a supplementary question today Deputy Mullen raised another aspect. With your permission, Sir, I should like to leave the few minutes left to Deputy Mullen to comment.
