asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the protests, if any, that have been made to the British Government regarding the alarming number of sectarian murders in the Portadown, Lurgan and Tyrone areas.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Sectarian Murders.
78.
The question of sectarian assassinations, which the Government regards with the gravest concern, has been raised with the British authorities on numerous occasions since we took office. It was raised directly by me most recently during my meeting with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mr. Merlyn Rees, in Dublin on 19th April last when I pointed out our concern at the horrifying continuation of and recent increase in sectarian killings. Attention has repeatedly been drawn to the scale of the problem in the areas referred to by the Deputy.
Is the Minister satisfied that the Government there have taken proper and sufficient action in arresting people who are carrying out this activity, who seem to be well known in Northern Ireland? Is the Minister aware of the rumours and insinuations circulating?
I am satisfied that the British authorities at present are genuinely and deeply concerned about the problem and are endeavouring to deal with it. I am not satisfied with the success rate in this regard which over the whole period has been extraordinarily low. The position in that particular area, as indeed in Belfast, is extremely serious. It is something which we will continue, and have indeed continued since I saw the Secretary of State, to press. Even in the last few days there have been further representations on the subject. Additional action is being taken but we cannot be satisfied until the people concerned have been found and dealt with, and the whole process has been stopped. I must say there is, as yet, no sign of that.
In view of the fact that most of the sectarian murders have affected the minority population in Northern Ireland, does the Minister feel that sufficient repressive action is taken against the Loyalist militant organisations who seem to be at the head of this carry-on?
Well, the action is clearly insufficient when sectarian murders are continuing on the scale at which they are continuing. Having said that, there are obvious difficulties of getting the necessary evidence to deal with them, even obvious evidence, because of the conspiracy of silence that seems to exist in some areas in even establishing a moral certainty as to who is responsible. It is a problem which requires a very considerable diversion of resources towards this area, for which we have been pressing and which certainly has been taking place in recent times. We must hope that this will yield early results.