I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise on the Adjournment the need for the Minister for Foreign Affairs to seek an explanation from the British authorities of an incident at Leeds-Bradford airport when a leading Irish cultural representative was forced to give his name in English on a landing card and the implications of this incident for other Irish citizens using British provincial airports or seaports. I also thank the Minister of State for coming to this House to deal with this matter, particularly in Holy Week.
While I have no wish to exacerbate the difficulties facing the Irish Government in their handling of current Anglo-Irish relations, I believe that the operation of the Prevention of Terrorism Act is a legitimate and continuing concern as it has been directed almost exclusively towards Irish citizens since its introduction in 1974. The facts of this case are as follows. The leader of Ireland's premier cultural organisation entered the United Kingdom at Manchester airport where he presented the completed landing card required under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and his currently held Irish passport. He was asked to give a translation of his name in the English form and refused, whereupon the officer concerned allowed him to proceed. However, later that evening having attended a cultural function in the Leeds area he was challenged at the embarkation point at Leeds-Bradford airport by a plain clothes security officer and asked to give his name in the English form. Once again the request was refused, on the basis that the Irish form of the name is the form normally used by this citizen and the form stated on his Irish passport. Following this impasse the security officer eventually allowed him to proceed but only after keeping him standing in a queue for some time, creating inconvenience both for this person and the remainder of the intending passengers. I am sure the Minister will agree that such activities are unacceptable and that the strongest possible protest should be conveyed to the British authorities.
I fully accept the right of the British Government to enact and operate any legislation which they believe to be in the best interests of the security of their citizens. Indeed it is the duty of any State to take whatever legal steps it thinks necessary to uphold the rule of law. However, respect for the law also brings with it an obligation on the part of the law enforcers not to abuse their power by indulging in this type of pettiness and in some other notorious incidences, actions bordering on a form of racial prejudice.
Irish is the first language of the Republic of Ireland as enshrined in our Constitution. Successive Irish Governments have subscribed to the aspiration that the old Gaelic culture can be revived. Our language is to be cherished and if an Irish citizen travelling abroad wishes to use the first language that right should be respected.
I have to put on record that for the vast majority of Irish people there is easy and ready access to the United Kingdom from Irish air and sea ports and that for this majority their only awareness of the existence of the Prevention of Terrorism Act is due to the completion of a landing card at some but not all British air and sea ports. Indeed I would go further and state a widely held view even in this country that so long as the IRA continue with their campaign of murder and mayhem the existence of an Act such as the Prevention of Terrorism Act is a necessary, if irritating, fact of life.
I have no criticism of the law officers who man the United Kingdom air and sea ports as my personal experience over many years of travel between the United Kingdom and Ireland has been one of uneventful travel. Therefore I share the view of the Federation of Irish Societies, the official body representing the bulk of the Irish in Britain, that the abolition of the Prevention of Terrorism Act is an unrealisable objective in the present climate but that a more humane operation of the Act is desirable and, with the help of the Irish Government, achievable.
I applaud the recent efforts of the Irish Government through the London Embassy to gain consular access to Irish citizens detained under the Act during the crucial initial 48-hour period. I also commend the initiative taken by the British Home Office in immediately informing the Embassy of the detention of several Irish citizens recently held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Such humane initiatives are to be encouraged and I would hope that the representations to the United Kingdom Government following on the incident at Leeds-Bradford airport would lead to the British side issuing guidelines to their law enforcement officers at the point of entry. These guidelines would include some form of education, or re-education where necessary, on Irish matters so that we do not have a repeat of what happened to the Irish citizen I have mentioned or any Irish citizen travelling on legitimate business between Ireland and the United Kingdom.
It has often been noted that there is more uniting the British and Irish people than dividing them and I would hope that the new spirit of co-operation between London and Dublin initiated by this Government, a move applauded by all right-thinking people in both countries, would percolate down to the most humble official who has dealings with this country or any of its citizens.