COMMONS DEBATE
Commons debate
THE Prime Minister yesterday told the men of violence in Ulster they had failed in their bid to wreck the Good Friday peace agreement.
In an emotional Commons statement, before a House crowded with MPs called back from their summer holidays, Mr Blair said things were now "moving in the right direction" in Northern Ireland.
He said the best response to last month's Omagh bombing was not to abandon the peace accord but to "carry it forward vigorously" and deny those opposed to the democratic process.
His statement came shortly before an emergency Commons debate on tough new laws to crack down on terrorist splinter groups in the wake of the Omagh bombing, which killed 28 people.
The legislation mirrors new laws being debated yesterday by the Eire Parliament in a symbolic gesture of unity between the two Governments reflecting their determination to defeat terrorism.
Mr Blair condemned the Omagh bombing as "a deliberate attempt by a small group of extremists with no moral or political support to wreck the Good Friday agreement".
And he told the bombers directly: "You sought to wreck the Agreement, and you have failed. You sought to divide the community, and you failed. You sought to win new support, and you failed.
"You failed because violence and terror represent the past in Northern Ireland, and democracy and peace represent the future."
Flanked by Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam and Home Secretary Jack Straw, Mr Blair gave a hushed and sombre House details of the Omagh bombing.
Mr Blair praised the efforts of politicians in Northern Ireland to find a way forward and welcomed Sinn Fein's announcement that Martin McGuinness will sit on the decommissioning commission.
He said decommissioning was vital part of the Agreement and there would be difficulties ahead, "but we have no doubt things are on the move and moving in the right direction".
In the wake of the bombing, both communities were determined "as never before to overcome past divisions and build new confidence and trust".
But steps must be taken to deal with the "unrepresentative minority who want to use violence to undermine" a peaceful future.
The recall of Parliament provided an opportunity to put into law "long-held plans to make it a criminal offence of conspiracy to commit offences outside the UK".
But Ulster Unionist leader and First Minister David Trimble voiced fears that the legislation, though necessary, would not work.
When it was introduced in Eire in the seventies, it became ineffective because police officers' assertions that people were members of proscribed organisations could be matched by those accused, he said.
"I am very doubtful that we will be able to secure any convictions on the basis of this in Northern Ireland," said Mr Trimble
"The mere fact that you are introducing these things or saying they are admissible in evidence does not mean you are going to get convictions."
While he had misgivings about how effective the new law might be, it was "necessary to bring it forward" in tandem with the Eire Government, Mr Trimble told the Commons.
"If we fail to bring forward legislation of a similar character here then we will be undermining their efforts," he said.
But Mr Trimble called for the Government to go further, urging a return to the statute book of the power of internment.
Ministers were making a "serious mistake" by failing to do so, he said.
And he urged them to consider making information gathered by bugging devices to be made admissible in terrorist trials.
Mr Trimble added: "We support the legislation in principle, we have expressed our doubts as to whether it will be effective, but we believe it is necessary in the present circumstances."
Tory Leader William Hague said his party would support the legislation, but pressed for a review of its effectiveness before it came up for renewal in 12 months' time and suggested internment should be put back on the UK statute book to match Ireland's powers.
Liberal Democrat Leader Paddy Ashdown said: "Perhaps out of the horrors of Omagh, we are at last going to see a real and historic opportunity for the people of Ireland to come together to build a peaceful future."
He supported the sentiment behind the legislation, but raised concerns over the Government's decision to add into it matters that were nothing to do with Northern Ireland.
His party favoured parallel legislation with that passing through the Irish Parliament and it believed the new measures would counter the terrorist aim to undermine and destroy the "sovereign will" of the Irish people for peace.
Parliament was recalled because the Prime Minister believed it was right to be proceeding "step by step" with the Irish Government thus proving there was a determination between the two nations to hunt down and bring the Omagh terrorists to justice.
DUP leader Ian Paisley spoke of the four men who were arrested after the Omagh bomb "who were known by Sinn Fein to be members of the so-called Real IRA. I refer to the O'Hagan brothers, Francis Curran and Shane Mackey.
"There is one question on the minds of the people of Northern Ireland today: if the laws you are saying we must pass today had been in operation could these four men have been kept in custody and brought to trial to prove whether they were guilty or not guilty?"
Mr Blair: "I cannot comment on individual cases. What I can say is that we believe this legislation gives us a far better chance to prove whether people are members of a proscribed organisation.
"The very purpose of this bomb, its very object, was to wreck the Agreement and produce a violent reaction from others. We have a responsibility to make sure that does not happen."
UK Unionist leader Robert McCartney warned of a "two-tier" approach, asking whether the new measures would apply only to groups like the Real IRA with no support but not to the Provisional IRA which through Sinn Fein had a considerable amount of public support.
SDLP leader John Hume said Omagh had been the worst atrocity in the 30 years of Troubles in Ulster.
Mr Hume told the Commons he had seen many deaths during those years.
"But one of my worst experiences was looking at the coffins of those children with life in their faces as they lay dead in their coffins," said Mr Hume.
The reaction of the people of Omagh to the bombing and of the people of Ireland, north and south, was a "powerful reaction which demonstrated that our common humanity transcended totally the divisions of our people".
THE Prime Minister yesterday told the men of violence in Ulster they had failed in their bid to wreck the Good Friday peace agreement.
In an emotional Commons statement, before a House crowded with MPs called back from their summer holidays, Mr Blair said things were now "moving in the right direction" in Northern Ireland.
He said the best response to last month's Omagh bombing was not to abandon the peace accord but to "carry it forward vigorously" and deny those opposed to the democratic process.
His statement came shortly before an emergency Commons debate on tough new laws to crack down on terrorist splinter groups in the wake of the Omagh bombing, which killed 28 people.
The legislation mirrors new laws being debated yesterday by the Eire Parliament in a symbolic gesture of unity between the two Governments reflecting their determination to defeat terrorism.
Mr Blair condemned the Omagh bombing as "a deliberate attempt by a small group of extremists with no moral or political support to wreck the Good Friday agreement".
And he told the bombers directly: "You sought to wreck the Agreement, and you have failed. You sought to divide the community, and you failed. You sought to win new support, and you failed.
"You failed because violence and terror represent the past in Northern Ireland, and democracy and peace represent the future."
Flanked by Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam and Home Secretary Jack Straw, Mr Blair gave a hushed and sombre House details of the Omagh bombing.
Mr Blair praised the efforts of politicians in Northern Ireland to find a way forward and welcomed Sinn Fein's announcement that Martin McGuinness will sit on the decommissioning commission.
He said decommissioning was vital part of the Agreement and there would be difficulties ahead, "but we have no doubt things are on the move and moving in the right direction".
In the wake of the bombing, both communities were determined "as never before to overcome past divisions and build new confidence and trust".
But steps must be taken to deal with the "unrepresentative minority who want to use violence to undermine" a peaceful future.
The recall of Parliament provided an opportunity to put into law "long-held plans to make it a criminal offence of conspiracy to commit offences outside the UK".
But Ulster Unionist leader and First Minister David Trimble voiced fears that the legislation, though necessary, would not work.
When it was introduced in Eire in the seventies, it became ineffective because police officers' assertions that people were members of proscribed organisations could be matched by those accused, he said.
"I am very doubtful that we will be able to secure any convictions on the basis of this in Northern Ireland," said Mr Trimble
"The mere fact that you are introducing these things or saying they are admissible in evidence does not mean you are going to get convictions."
While he had misgivings about how effective the new law might be, it was "necessary to bring it forward" in tandem with the Eire Government, Mr Trimble told the Commons.
"If we fail to bring forward legislation of a similar character here then we will be undermining their efforts," he said.
But Mr Trimble called for the Government to go further, urging a return to the statute book of the power of internment.
Ministers were making a "serious mistake" by failing to do so, he said.
And he urged them to consider making information gathered by bugging devices to be made admissible in terrorist trials.
Mr Trimble added: "We support the legislation in principle, we have expressed our doubts as to whether it will be effective, but we believe it is necessary in the present circumstances."
Tory Leader William Hague said his party would support the legislation, but pressed for a review of its effectiveness before it came up for renewal in 12 months' time and suggested internment should be put back on the UK statute book to match Ireland's powers.
Liberal Democrat Leader Paddy Ashdown said: "Perhaps out of the horrors of Omagh, we are at last going to see a real and historic opportunity for the people of Ireland to come together to build a peaceful future."
He supported the sentiment behind the legislation, but raised concerns over the Government's decision to add into it matters that were nothing to do with Northern Ireland.
His party favoured parallel legislation with that passing through the Irish Parliament and it believed the new measures would counter the terrorist aim to undermine and destroy the "sovereign will" of the Irish people for peace.
Parliament was recalled because the Prime Minister believed it was right to be proceeding "step by step" with the Irish Government thus proving there was a determination between the two nations to hunt down and bring the Omagh terrorists to justice.
DUP leader Ian Paisley spoke of the four men who were arrested after the Omagh bomb "who were known by Sinn Fein to be members of the so-called Real IRA. I refer to the O'Hagan brothers, Francis Curran and Shane Mackey.
"There is one question on the minds of the people of Northern Ireland today: if the laws you are saying we must pass today had been in operation could these four men have been kept in custody and brought to trial to prove whether they were guilty or not guilty?"
Mr Blair: "I cannot comment on individual cases. What I can say is that we believe this legislation gives us a far better chance to prove whether people are members of a proscribed organisation.
"The very purpose of this bomb, its very object, was to wreck the Agreement and produce a violent reaction from others. We have a responsibility to make sure that does not happen."
UK Unionist leader Robert McCartney warned of a "two-tier" approach, asking whether the new measures would apply only to groups like the Real IRA with no support but not to the Provisional IRA which through Sinn Fein had a considerable amount of public support.
SDLP leader John Hume said Omagh had been the worst atrocity in the 30 years of Troubles in Ulster.
Mr Hume told the Commons he had seen many deaths during those years.
"But one of my worst experiences was looking at the coffins of those children with life in their faces as they lay dead in their coffins," said Mr Hume.
The reaction of the people of Omagh to the bombing and of the people of Ireland, north and south, was a "powerful reaction which demonstrated that our common humanity transcended totally the divisions of our people".
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/123
Published Date: 03-Sep-98
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