CLAMP-DOWN IS A LITTLE TOO LATE
Clamp-down is a little to late
AFTER the mass murders that took place at Enniskillen on Remembrance Sunday, we were told that every necessary action would be taken to defeat the IRA. Now more than a decade later, new anti-terrorism measures have been announced by the Government of the Republic. The question must be asked why, after more than 25 years of Republican violence did it take an Irish government so long to embark on such action? There seems to be a suggestion that the Belfast agreement was in some way necessary before draconian action could be taken against terrorists here in the Republic. Surely, we did not need the Agreement to know that all paramilitary gangs are fascists, depraved, and act against the interests of people who share this island?
Nor was there ever majority support within either the Nationalist or Unionist community for those who murdered in their name.
Following the Belfast Agreement, the two governments should have made it clear that measures such as Internment would be taken against any paramilitary group that persisted with violence.
It is generally believed that the identities of many individuals involved in Republican violence throughout the years are known to the security forces her in the Republic. I believe that those who planned in the safety of their homes the Omagh outrage, might well have had second thoughts had they lived in fear of Internment.
Anthony Moriarty,
6 Shanid Road,
Kenilworth Park,
Dublin 6 W.
Courtesy of Irish Examiner
AFTER the mass murders that took place at Enniskillen on Remembrance Sunday, we were told that every necessary action would be taken to defeat the IRA. Now more than a decade later, new anti-terrorism measures have been announced by the Government of the Republic. The question must be asked why, after more than 25 years of Republican violence did it take an Irish government so long to embark on such action? There seems to be a suggestion that the Belfast agreement was in some way necessary before draconian action could be taken against terrorists here in the Republic. Surely, we did not need the Agreement to know that all paramilitary gangs are fascists, depraved, and act against the interests of people who share this island?
Nor was there ever majority support within either the Nationalist or Unionist community for those who murdered in their name.
Following the Belfast Agreement, the two governments should have made it clear that measures such as Internment would be taken against any paramilitary group that persisted with violence.
It is generally believed that the identities of many individuals involved in Republican violence throughout the years are known to the security forces her in the Republic. I believe that those who planned in the safety of their homes the Omagh outrage, might well have had second thoughts had they lived in fear of Internment.
Anthony Moriarty,
6 Shanid Road,
Kenilworth Park,
Dublin 6 W.
Courtesy of Irish Examiner
Further Information
Publisher: THE EXAMINER
Ref: TEX/172
Published Date: 24-Aug-98
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