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The
Oireachtas Debates on Collusion
A Commission of Inquiry
under Mr. Justice Henry Barron was established by the Irish Government in
2001. Four reports were published and a Sub-Committee of the cross-party
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence
and Women's Rights conducted an extensive examination of the reports,
including in public session.
The Sub-Committee's
conclusions were startlingly direct - particularly in light of its cross-party
membership - and included the below
recommendation:
"The spectre
of collusion was raised in our first report and we now have enough information
to be fully satisfied, not only that it occurred, but that it was widespread.
The seriousness
of this warrants direction from the Oireachtas and we therefore recommend
that there should be a full debate in both the Dáil and the Seanad
on the issue of collusion since it is necessary for there to be greater
political impetus to highlight the fact that it occurred, and the facts
of its scale and to identify measures to bring closure to the victims."
On the 10th October
2007, the Taoiseach, in response to questions
on the subject in the Dáil, stated:
"As the
House will be aware, the Oireachtas joint committee report, which dealt
with these issues made some stark findings and painted a very disturbing
picture. As I said when I published the MacEntee report, I fully support
the call for a debate in the Dáil and the Seanad and I am happy
to do that whenever the House agrees to do it."
Unfortunately,
the Taoiseach reneged on his promise to have a full debate in the Dáil
on the issue of collusion and instead allowed for the scheduling of Statements
to the House on the 30th and 31st January 2008. This meant that members
of the Dáil did not discuss a motion and there was no direct outcome
from the debates.
Notwithstanding
this setback, the statements did result in a strong endorsement from all
party leaders of the call for the release of documents by the British
government . Even more importantly, all parties were in agreement in endorsing
the proposal for a cross-party motion on the Barron Reports.
As a
result of the statements, Justice for the Forgotten is currently working
with members of all parties to ensure the speedy passage of this motion.
More
on the findings of the Sub-Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and
Women's Rights.
As
the Taoiseach noted, the Sub-Committee made a number of stark assessments
relating to the Barron reports. These include:
- The Sub-Committee
is left in no doubt that collusion between the British security forces
and terrorists was behind many, if not all, of the atrocities considered
in this report. We are horrified that persons who were employed by the
British administration to preserve peace and to protect people were
engaged in the creation of violence and the butchering of innocent victims.
- The Sub-Committee
believes that unless the full truth about collusion is established and
those involved either admit or are fixed with responsibility then there
cannot be closure for the families.
- The Sub-Committee
is of the view that given that we are dealing with acts of international
terrorism that were colluded in by the British security forces, the
British Government cannot legitimately refuse to co-operate with investigations
and attempts to get to the truth.
- The Sub-Committee
notes that the British cabinet was aware of the level to which the security
forces had been infiltrated by terrorists and we believe that its inadequate
response to this knowledge permitted the problem to continue and to
grow.
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