Northern Ireland
Dail Éireann — 2021-05-11
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Brendan Smith (FF), Cavan-Monaghan

I thank the Minister for his response. I remember meeting the Ballymurphy families in the Dáil in 2014. If memory serves me, a motion was passed unanimously in the House in 2015 in support of the families. I very much welcome and do not doubt the Government's commitment to dealing with legacy issues but the British Government must be equally committed, which has not been the case so far, unfortunately. The Minister used the phrases "strong concern" and "critical principles" and referred to the unacceptability of unilateral action by the British Government. I am glad that the Minister has reiterated those comments in the House this evening; it is extremely important. I mentioned that there was an agreed motion on the Ballymurphy massacre and he will recall that there were also agreed motions on the Dublin and Monaghan bombings in 2008, 2011 and 2016. In those motions we called on the British Government to give an independent legal expert access to papers relevant to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. Sadly, the British Government has not responded to the request of a sovereign parliament. We must pursue that vigorously again because we will soon reach the 47th anniversary of those terrible atrocities.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2021-05-11/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:49:16+00:00
Sitting date: 2021-05-11