asked the Taoiseach, having regard to the considerable anxiety at the reported confrontation between Army personnel and gardaí and British troops at Munnilly on 28th October, 1971, if he will make a statement on the matter.
3.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Border Incident.
2.
asked the Taoiseach if he will detail events as they occurred on the Border area on 28th October, 1971, which resulted in a confrontation between the troops of the Irish Army and the British Army.
4.
asked the Taoiseach if in view of the tense situation which arose between Irish and British troops because of the placing of explosives on this side of the Border, he will outline the steps taken to ensure that incursions of this nature do not recur.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 2, 3 and 4 together.
As the Deputy is aware, I issued statements in regard both to the incidents at Munnilly and at Dooard. Copies of both statements are available in the Dáil Library.
I continue to be concerned about repeated incidents of this nature and in the protests recently made to the British authorities I have once more drawn their attention to the extreme danger inherent in these activities of the British Army. I am keeping the situation closely under review and the Deputy can be assured that appropriate action will be taken should there be further frequent or serious Border infringements.
Can the Taoiseach say if any suggestion has been made either by Army or Garda personnel that the area of the Border adjacent to this which has to be patrolled from a particular post is too long? The suggestion is that additional posts should be provided there from which patrolling would be carried out.
No such suggestion or complaint has been made to me, nor to any of the Ministers that I am aware of.
Would the Taoiseach state what appropriate action he has in mind should any further incident of this nature occur?
It will depend on the gravity of the incident.
If an incident of similar gravity occurs what action will the Taoiseach take?
It will depend also on the frequency of incidents.
Can the Taoiseach say if any regret was expressed by the British authorities or was it recognised that this was a breach of the Border?
They are not satisfied yet, subject to their own investigations, that there was in fact a breach, but if there was such they indicated they would be regretted.
Could the Taoiseach say to what extent property on our side of the Border has been damaged and what steps will be taken by the Government or other public authorities in this State to recover the cost of reinstating public property and to assist private persons in recovering the cost of damage done to their property?
That seems to be a separate question.
There have been no complaints as far as I know that serious damage was done to private property. Some cratering was done with the intention of setting off explosives, but that was only trivial damage. Some bridges have been blown up rendering the half that remained on our side completely valueless and ineffective. I am afraid I could not give an intimation of that damage in terms of money.
The Taoiseach stated earlier on that there were contradictory reports from the British, that the British did not accept the Irish version of what happened on the Border at this particular time and in relation to the Castleblayney incident. Could the Taoiseach elaborate further on that?
In relation to the recent incidents, the two in particular to which I have just referred, the result of the British investigations have not yet come to hand but we are in touch with them on it.
In view of the fact that the Irish authorities are in possession of these explosives can the Taoiseach indicate the origin of them?
That is a separate question and does not arise. I am calling Question No. 5.
It is all bound up together.
In view of the fact——
I have called Question No. 5.
I had a question down to the Minister for Justice which will not now come up, I understand. Could the Taoiseach tell me if, in view of the fact that the Army are at present posted probably ten or 12 miles from the Clones Garda District on the Border and probably over 20 miles from a further point at Moy Bridge, he would not think it advisable to move the troops closer to the Border, because it is possible that if a similar situation to the one last Thursday occurs local civilians will move in and take up action before the troops have an opportunity to get there? Does the Taoiseach not think it would be advisable to move these soldiers nearer the Border?
As I indicated to Deputy Cosgrave in reply to his supplementary, I have not received any such complaint either from the Garda or from the Army. The evidence of these two incidents indicates that both the Garda and the Defence Forces were on the spot very quickly. I certainly will ask that the Deputy's complaint be looked into to see if anything further requires to be done.