Detention by British soldiers near Swanlinbar
Wilson asked the Minister to investigate a County Cavan citizen’s detention and interrogation by British soldiers in County Fermanagh. Kelly said initial inquiries found no information and requested full details before deciding whether to pursue the matter with the British authorities; he acknowledged that detention of a law-abiding citizen would concern the Minister.
asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will have inquiries made into an incident on 5th August, 1976, on the main Swanlinbar-Enniskillen road involving a person (name supplied) who was detained by British soldiers and interrogated for one hour.
Comment on this
I understand that the Deputy's question refers to an incident which took place in County Fermanagh While the security arrangements in Northern Ireland are, of course, the responsibility of the United Kingdom authorities, they are aware of the Government's concern that disruption and inconvenience resulting from security controls should be kept to a minimum consistent with security considerations.
The incident to which the Deputy refers was not raised with my Department nor have I received sufficient information to judge whether it would be appropriate to raise the matter with the British authorities. If the Deputy wishes to supply me with full details of the incident, I shall consider the matter further.
Comment on this
The Minister's situation is that his Department have no knowledge of this incident. The Department did undertake to institute inquiries but they have not been able to find out anything about the matter. If the Deputy will give full details of the incident to the Minister, the Minister will consider the matter further. But he would not undertake, purely on the facts implicit in the Deputy's question, to take any particular action until he knew the circumstances of the case.
Comment on this
Would it perturb the Minister to know that the patrol knew a lot about the person it stopped, despite the fact that the person is a citizen of the State and living in County Cavan?
Comment on this
I do not believe it would perturb the Minister. A security authority anywhere must do its job in the best way it can. I cannot offer a comment on the way this particular authority is doing its job. If the person who consulted the Deputy has serious reason to be aggrieved, or any reason to be aggrieved the Minister will consider the matter further.
Comment on this
Am I to take it that the Minister would not be perturbed if a citizen who obeys the laws in this State finds himself stopped by a patrol which knows a lot of detail about his family?