asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will take action in regard to the jailing of five Irishmen in Forth Worth, Texas; and if the Ambassador to the United States will make representations to the US Government on their behalf.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Jailing of Irishmen.
24.
The five men concerned have been treated in a manner similar to that in which US citizens in the same situation would be treated. In these circumstances it would not be in accordance with normal consular practice to make official representations to the US Government on their behalf.
The people concerned have been jailed without any charge simply because they refused to give evidence to a committee of some kind.
The people in question have been subjected to the same legal processes as any American citizen. They have also availed of all legal rights and opportunities open to them under American law and in no way have their rights been diminished or interfered with. As the Deputy may know, they have had access to the United States Supreme Court and in May this year an application was made for habeas corpus which was not successful. They have had full access to legal advice and they are very well advised by a most prominent American lawyer on their civil rights. They have also had the assistance of the US Centre for Constitutional Rights. The consular service the Deputy has in mind would arise only if these rights had been denied them but, in fact, they have the same rights as American citizens. The position is that if they are at present deprived of their liberty it is as a consequence of their own unwillingness to give the assistance which the Federal Grand Jury has sought. Any American citizen, or any other person, Irish or otherwise, in America, is obliged to conform to the laws of the country—as would happen any foreigner in this country in relation to our own laws.
There are certain amendments to the American Constitution which have been used by people accused of serious crimes. This time there is a suspicion that these people may have been involved in the exportation of arms to this country—it is a suspicion and nothing more than that. There has not been any charge but apparently the people concerned are going to rot in jail until they die because the American institutions have decided to move their trial from where they are resident to Fort Worth in Texas——
The Deputy is making a statement rather than asking a supplementary question.
I should like to ask the Minister if he will ask our ambassador in Washington to make representations to the American Government to see that justice, as we understand it in Ireland, is applied to them?
It is entirely wrong that the Deputy should use Question Time or any other time in this House to make unwarranted charges against a friendly State. The people in question have refused to co-operate in an investigation under American law related to suspected violations of various criminal statutes. That is the reality of the situation and emotive speeches of the kind made by the Deputy do not help the people involved nor do they help relations between this country and a friendly State.
The action of the Americans in this instance——
I am calling Question No. 25.