Deputy Noel Treacy has been given permission to raise on the adjournment of the House the subject matter of Question No. 9 on today's Order Paper.
Adjournment Debate. - Crossmaglen (Armagh) GAA Club.
I asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will raise the serious ongoing discrimination being imposed by the British army on the officers, members and supporters of Crossmaglen GAA Club, County Armagh, within the Anglo-Irish Conference; and if he will make a statement on this very serious situation.
On my own behalf and that of the Oireachtas Members of the Border counties and in particular on behalf of Deputy Kirk who represents County Louth, which adjoins the Crossmaglen area, I want to thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me this opportunity to raise this very serious matter. I am very disappointed that the Minister for Foreign Affairs has not come here tonight to take this question. He was in the House today but we did not have an opportunity to raise the matter. As a member of the Anglo-Irish Conference, his absence is disappointing. Crossmaglen GAA park is the only available recreational area in Crossmaglen and is also one of the three GAA grounds in County Armagh classified as county grounds and suitable for inter-county matches. It is known that Crossmaglen Rangers' Gaelic Football Club provide recreational facilities for people of all ages, male and female, but especially for those between ten and 35 years of age. Outdoor facilities are provided through field games and indoor facilities in the hall and adjoining complex. All these facilities have been provided by the club without Government or local authority aid. The unauthorised use of the club's property is involved and the unnecessary harassment and failure to keep successive promises made by the British Government and their civil representatives in Northern Ireland.
Since 1971 the British army have occupied a number of areas of the property and have caused considerable damage to the entire property. Two portions of the property are still retained by the British army, one being an undefined right of way which the army took by requisition order in 1976 and which included one of two entrances to the property owned by Crossmaglen Rangers' GAA Club. Without amending the order, the British army took control of the second entrance into the ground.
Disgraceful.
They are now using both entrances at irregular intervals. Also they took approximately two acres of the club's property and built on part of that a very extensive army base, basically as a headquarters for them in that part of Northern Ireland close to the Border.
Obnoxious.
Various negotiations have been going on over the years through the successive Ministers for Foreign Affairs, through the Department of Foreign Affairs with both Ambassadors here, with the British Government and their representatives. Over the years various commitments have been made, even in the House of Commons by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mr. Humphrey Atkins, who on 11 July 1980 stated that he proposed to return to the GAA all land taken in 1974 and that he hoped an amicable settlement could be reached with the GAA regarding other issues. This is recorded in Hansard, the official record of the House of Commons.
A meeting took place in the House of Commons on 17 July 1980 between Mr. Michael Allison, Minister of State representing the British Government, and a GAA delegation led by the president of the association at that time, Mr. Paddy McFlynn from County Down and Mr. Con Murphy from Cork, the outoing president at that time. Mr. Allison was questioned by the delegation as to the content of Mr. Atkins's statement in the House of Commons on 11 July 1980. In reply, Mr. Allison stated that his Government did not intend to return all the land taken in 1974 but that they would return approximately half of it. In response to further questioning regarding the major discrepancy between his statement and that of Mr. Atkins in the Commons six days earlier, all he could say was that this was only an interpretation of what Mr. Atkins had said.
That is only one of many instances of double-crossing, double-dealing and failing to honour commitments at the highest levels to officials and members of the Crossmaglen GAA club. It is quite clear that Mr. Atkins deliberately misled the House of Commons and that Mr. Allison was not prepared to make any concession whatsoever regarding the commitment given in the House of Commoons by Mr. Atkins on that occasion.
Also, the British army decided to build a 20 foot wall on the GAA property, on the external side of the proposed army base. The British Ambassador to Ireland on 14 July 1980 assured the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs at that time, Deputy Brian Lenihan, that no work would be carried out on the erection of that wall until further discussions had taken place with the officers and members of Crossmaglen GAA club, that regardless of the decision no work would start before September 1980. In actual fact, work had already been started by the British army two days prior to the meeting with Deputy Lenihan in Dublin and continued right through the month of July and the wall was almost complete by September 1980. This again illustrates the failure of the British Government and their agents and members to honour the commitments given at that time.
We discussed this matter in this House on a number of occasions and in 1984 Deputy Kirk and I raised the matter on the Adjournment of the House. We asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs at that time, Deputy Peter Barry, if he would visit Crossmaglen and investigate the situation for himself. I should like to know tonight if he has done that and has got an up to date factual knowledge of the exact position. I want to know if he is aware that the British army are using both entrances unnecessarily.
There were options available to them not to have to use those entrances at all. First, they had a permanent entrance on to the Culvoille Road on the western side of the army base; secondly, there was another secondary entrance on to that same road; thirdly, for ten years there was available a derelict site, the property of the Northern Ireland Minister for Education between the army base and the main road alongside the Crossmaglen GAA headquarters. This could have been acquired from the Minister for Education and used as a permanent exit or entry point by the British army to their base, but they never used that derelict site and it has now been disposed of, to prove that there is a need to use the GAA entrances.
There has been total discrimination against the members of the Crossmaglen club for a long number of years, particularly since 1971. They have been held up on their way to matches and have even been intimidated on their way to Mass.
Harassed.
Two weeks ago, on their way to play a game in Lurgan they were help up in Portadown for one and a half hours by the UDR. The police were called, but no action was taken. Now we have the Anglo-Irish Agreement and in that both Governments reaffirmed their commitment to a society in Northern Ireland in which all may live in peace, free from discrimination and intolerance and with the opportunity for both communities to participate fully in the structures and the processes of government. As far as I am concerned, this is total discrimination against Nationalist members in Northern Ireland. This total harassment has been going on for far too long. The county secretary in Armagh, Mr. Gerry Fagan, intervened two weeks ago when the club were held up on their way to Lurgan and he, as a senior representative of the GAA, got no response from the police on the matter. RTE have covered what has been happening. They have seen at first hand the wanton destruction being inflicted on this property in Northern Ireland. In the past three weeks three different stretches of the fence, each ten feet wide, have been destroyed by the Army. The Crossmaglen club will receive an agreed refund for that damage. The case will not be going to court because the British army do not allow that to happen. Such destruction causes a great deal of inconvenience to people who are trying to provide facilities in a town of about 1,500 people and where there has been large scale unemployment. The GAA are the only organisation who have tried to provide these facilities but they are being discriminated against constantly. Major damage has been caused to the structure of the property.
At one stage a helicopter pad was sited on the GAA grounds but after negotiations with the Department of Foreign Affairs here, the pad was relocated at the army base. It is our information that this is a very large army base and that underground there, there is a very strong fortress. One wonders what the need for this structure is in an area so close to the Border. Helicopters fly constantly over the GAA property. Games have been interrupted by these machines flying too low. Major destruction has been caused to the club's social centre as a result of helicopters flying too close to the roof. With Deputies Kirk and Collins I visited the club some time ago. The damage on the western side of the centre was very obvious.
Last year there was a settlement of £150,000 agreed in court between the British authorities and the Crossmaglen club to cover damage to the property and its confiscation up to that time. There will be other claims but the commitment given that the grounds would be restored and returned to the club has not been honoured. We are asking the Government to proceed through the Anglo-Irish Conference to ensure that this will be done.
There has been constant discrimination against members and supporters of the club. Two weeks ago a 22 year old man coming from a shop after buying a bag of chips was stabbed seven times by four people in tracksuits who jumped over an adjacent wall. That man would very likely have died had it not been for the fact that someone came on the scene quickly. He was rushed to hospital and is recovering. Three days later four soldiers from the army base were charged with the attack. The case is now sub judice but it is typical of what has been happening in that area for a long time.
I submit to the House that whoever controls the entrances to any property virtually controls the entire property. Technically or legally they may not have ownership rights but because of what the army have been doing in this instance under the Emergency Powers Act they can be said to virtually control the whole destiny and progress of the Crossmaglen GAA grounds. The club have major plans to develop the grounds. In that respect they applied ten years ago for planning permission but the conditions being imposed by the British army were so stringent and difficult as to render it impossible for the club to proceed with the development. That development is needed urgently for what was one of the prime county grounds in Armagh. The club applied again recently for planning permission but the army will not allow them to proceed unless they are given a temporary base protective structure. Such structure would cut the members of the club and the players away from the western side of the grounds. By way of compromise, all the army were prepared to allow was a passage through which supporters might or might not pass.
I appeal to the Minister for Foreign Affairs as a member of a sovereign Government operating within the conference with another sovereign Government to ensure that this problem is debated and discussed so that a consensus can be reached. Whatever decision might be taken as a result of that consensus should be put into operation in Crossmaglen so that there would be restored to the club members and supporters the right to pursue pastimes in a normal and reasonable atmosphere.
I thank Deputy Treacy for giving me the opportunity to speak on this motion. He has outlined graphically for us the difficulty of the people of Crossmaglen and particularly of the members of the Rangers club. The British army have been occupying the GAA grounds in the town since the early seventies. Their attitude in the intervening years has been one of provocation and aggravation. This is a humiliation and an insult to the people of Crossmaglen.
The playing area and the area for spectators have been curtailed severely because of the construction of the army base. The fencing and the playing area have been damaged severely. The fencing around the field has been cut regularly. Helicopters have landed on the grounds during matches, using the playing area as a landing pad. one can visualise what the playing surface in the field was like when that was happening. In addition, army landrovers made their way through the field. That was a deliberate provocation and left a very sour taste with those involved with a voluntary organisation in trying to provide recreational facilities for the club and for the people of the south Armagh area. Matches were being disrupted regularly.
Last October I was at a match there and just at my heel there was a British soldier in camouflage. He leaped out from the undergrowth in the surrounding area. There were other occasions when up to 20 or 25 soldiers emerged from that undergrowth sending people running in fear. At times young children were looking down the barrels of the guns of the British soldiers while matches were in progress. In view of all the aggravation that has been caused to players and spectators at the grounds one would expect the British army to stay away from the spectator area when matches are in progress. At the match I attended there was a large number of people present. The people of Crossmaglen have been living with this aggravation for many years. All the indications are that the problem will continue for some considerable time.
We will be looking to the Minister for Foreign Affairs to raise this matter immediately with the British authorities at the first available opportunity. The time has come for the British army to leave those playing grounds. The people of the area must be allowed to pursue their recreational facilities without interference from the army.
Deputy Treacy began his contribution by thanking you for allowing him to raise this matter on the Adjournment. In describing the problem as an ongoing one he was not exaggerating. It is a problem that has been discussed in this House during very many years.
During the course of the afternoon while briefing myself on this subject I discovered that my colleague Deputy Kenny, Minister of State with responsibility for sport, raised this matter on several occasions during the seventies. While I have not seen the report I gather at an even earlier stage it was raised by the late Deputy Loughnane. As Deputy Treacy commented, it has been the concern of successive Ministers for Foreign Affairs and successive Governments of different persuasions.
The problems of the Crossmaglen Rangers GAA Club have an importance that goes well beyond the effects on the local people themselves, though that of itself is important. This was spelled out by both Deputy Treacy and Deputy Kirk. They have an importance which goes beyond that because they serve as an example of the serious disruption which the present troubles in Northern Ireland have brought to people in their daily lives. Because the Department have recognised, and more specifically because the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Barry, has recognised, the very real difficulties that the club, their officers and members are experiencing, that the Minister directed that senior officials of the Department should visit Crossmaglen to inspect the club and speak with their officers and members to brief themselves in the greatest possible detail on the subject. The effects of the violence in Northern Ireland and the security measures to which that violence has given rise have had an immediate and continuing effect on the sporting activities of Crossmaglen Rangers GAA Club.
Much of the history has been referred to but it might be useful if I put it in some sort of a time span. The problems faced by the club in Crossmaglen first arose in the early seventies at the time the British army began to use the RUC station adjacent to the GAA grounds as a base for their operations. As the level of activity at the army base grew in response to the security situation, the club found their games disrupted by low flying helicopters and, in some instances, these helicopters even landed on the GAA pitch. One would not need to be an inter-county footballer — and there is at least one in the House at present——
There are two and both have medals.
——to work out what the effects on a playing surface would be. The construction of a helicopter pad within the base added further complications and necessitated the requisitioning of land belonging to the GAA in order to meet the needs of an expanding military base. In 1974, part of the club's property was taken over by the British authorities. In 1976, a further slice of the club's property was taken over. Clearly, the club suffered considerably from this loss of land and from the disruption which was caused by the proximity of the army base.
The club have experienced many difficulties over the past number of years in their sporting and social activities ranging from loss of revenue and damage to property to reported harrassment of members of the club on the club grounds. These have been discussed in detail with the GAA on a number of occasions and the specific problems outlined were raised with the British authorities on many occasions who say they have not had specific complaints in recent times such as those outlined by Deputy Treacy. I will undertake to have those specifics he mentioned looked into. I do not want to go into detail as the Deputy says the case he mentioned is sub judice, but it is worth commenting that people were charged in the aftermath of that incident and charged very quickly.
What then is the continuing difficulty? The major difficulty is, of course, that the British army continue to hold land which has been requisitioned from the club. The situation we see today has improved greatly when compared with that which existed in the late seventies because, as was mentioned in the earlier contributions, in response to repeated pressure from the Department of Foreign Affairs together with the activities of the GAA and the club, a considerable portion of the confiscated portion of the confiscated land was returned. That is to be welcomed but the fact still remains that some land belonging to the GAA still remains within the British army base. Obviously, that is a source of difficulty.
A second issue is the damage which has been done to the club in material and financial terms. The pitch has been damaged as we have said. Walls and fences have been knocked down and the clubhouse on at least one occasion has been damaged by an army vehicle. To point to some changed circumstances, the fact that Deputy Treacy was able to tell the House that the most recent damage is to be compensated for without the necessity for prolonged litigation ——
It probably will be.
The fact that Deputy Treacy can expect that compensation will be rapidly forthcoming is a change on the situation that existed some years ago when the club were denied compensation which they were so obviously due and left without it for many years.
There has been a severe financial loss because of the disruption of the club's sporting and anciliary social activities. On that basis, they submitted a substantial compensation claim to the Northern Ireland authorities. That claim was a prolonged affair and it went on and on. My Department were involved on a number of occasions with the British authorities and eventually the claim was settled out of court in February of last year. My understanding is that the amount of the settlement was as indicated by Deputy Treacy.
The court sat for one and a half days and agreement was reached at 9 p.m. The judge decided to accept the decision the following morning.
I can assure the Deputy that that constitutes an out of court settlement.
Technically.
The Ceann Comhairle will come to my assistance, if required. I gather what has now evolved is that the club are proposing to put that compensation to use. What they have in mind is to restore and develop the facilities at Crossmaglen and to get on with work which, for the regrettable circumstances which existed over recent years, might have been long since undertaken.
Problems still persist and I would single out one particular issue, namely, that of the right of way which the British army have exercised at the rear of the grounds. This right of way stretches across the entry to the GAA grounds and it virtually encircles the clubhouse. The existence of such a right of way and its frequent use during building operations in the late seventies seriously impeded access to the clubhouse and impaired the freedom of the members to make full use of the club's facilities. It was a vehicle making use of that right of way which inflicted the damage on the clubhouse to which I made reference earlier. While construction work at the barracks in June last year again involved the use of the right of way with consequent inconvenience and disruption to the club's activities, my understanding is that its use has declined, though it remains a problem for the club and a cause of friction. The Minister for Foreign Affairs has urged the British authorities to give up the right of way and to secure access to the base through alternative means. Efforts are continuing to be made along these lines.
Can I express some satisfaction at the fact that Deputies opposite have seen the potential benefits of the Anglo-Irish Agreement——
We have not seen them.
——and have put their request to the Government in the context of the agreement signed at Hillsborough. It is the case that every possible opportunity has been taken to raise this question and to give assistance to the GAA. That has happened in the past at official level, at ministerial level and at Heads of Government level.
Has it happened under the agreement?
The Deputy opposite is perfectly well aware of what the practice is in relation to the Inter-Governmental Conference, that it is not the practice to disclose other than what is contained in the communique.
Give us a little hint.
I was going to say that to a blind man a nod is sometimes as good as a wink and I was not even suggesting that the Deputy opposite is a blind man.
A satisfactory response from the British authorities which would meet the concerns of the GAA club in Crossmaglen would help to improve community relations in the area. The very improvement of community relations in the area would be an improvement in the security situation and to that extent would achieve some of their objectives. I want to say to the House that every effort will continue to be made in every forum that is open to us in order to ensure that a satisfactory response is received from the British Government on this continuing problem.
Could I ask the Minister of State whether this matter will be raised at the next meeting of the Anglo-Irish Conference?
The Deputy has heard what I have to say.
It is very disappointing.
I made one appeal today and I will make another appeal now, that the institution of the Chair should be respected while listening to the occupant.