It was widely reported in the media yesterday that the Ulster Volunteer Force, UVF, provided answers to a family concerning a 1974 murder in Belfast. The late John Crawford, a father of nine, was shot dead in west Belfast in January 1974. Almost 50 years later, the family of the late Mr. Crawford was given a report by loyalist paramilitaries setting out the circumstances of the killing. His son Paul got the report from the UVF. It is important to point out that an investigation by the Historical Enquiries Team, HET, had confirmed his father’s innocence.

Mr. Paul Crawford began a seven-year communication with an intermediary to try to get some answers. Mr. Paul Crawford said it meant that the greatest degree of resolution possible has been obtained. It was reported in the media yesterday, including by RTÉ, that he said:

I do not believe in closure - my father was brutally and unjustifiably taken from us and that is a wound that will never heal - but as far as I am concerned this process has delivered absolutely full answers and full resolution of what I was seeking.

It does not undo the immense, irreversible hurt. However, that family got that crumb of comfort and it might be one of the last families to get it. Due to the decision of the British Government to proceed against the wishes of all parties in Northern Ireland, other parties will not have that level of explanation. Mr. Paul Crawford was at pains to point out that it is not closure.

Kieran McEvoy, a professor of law at Queen’s University, said that the fact that the British Government had now abandoned the terms of the agreement meant that the option of going through interlocutors was now lost to the families. Under controversial UK Government proposals currently working their way through Westminster, all civil and criminal options would effectively be shut down to families of the Troubles’ victims.

It is never too late. I know the House is more or less united in the point that we should use all our power of influence and persuasion as one island to speak and appeal to the British Government, which is out of step. It is unusual to get cross-party support in Northern Ireland. Everyone has bought into this. We will not have an authentic peace until we have proper healing, reconciliation and understanding. This is a step that people are being deprived of. I saw a positive light yesterday in the darkest chapter of our country, yet it may not happen for too much longer.

I will speak on a similar theme to that raised by my neighbour and friend, Senator Martin. Today marks the 49th anniversary of that terrible day when three bombs exploded in Dublin city centre and a fourth in Monaghan town. Of course, the Belturbet bombing is a different matter also, but it was a day of huge violence. It was the greatest loss of life in this part of the island and an awful, terrible day. Twenty-five years on from the Good Friday Agreement, and as part of that agreement, we should be acknowledging these cases and getting information on them. We need to know what happened and get the facts. We need to know about collusion and whatever else was involved. I ask the Leader to mark the anniversary of this tragedy by pursuing the matter again.

Through the good offices of my colleague, Senator Currie, I met the families of the disappeared last week. It behoves all of us, of all parties, in this House to come together in a non-dramatic and low-key fashion to work to resolve this matter in order that the relatives of the last remaining people among the disappeared find them, have the opportunity to bury them, know where they are and have family plots to visit, etc. This is important in Irish culture and indeed every culture.

We need to get the truth behind the events in Monaghan and Dublin on that day. We need to pursue that. I would like the Leader’s response. I will not be here in person to hear it but I will read it in the blacks. I would also like her to respond on what we, as a collective of all parties and none, can do. That should be done in a low-key manner.

It is not about grandstanding or about public pronouncements; it is about families and getting something done there on the disappeared.

I want to briefly respond to the two previous speakers and to commend every word they have said. I highlight the fact, particularly to my colleague on the Council of Europe, Senator O'Reilly, that I have sponsored a request for a report at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe into the threat to the human rights framework of the Good Friday Agreement posed by the current proposals in British legislation. It would be really important to get cross-party support for that report so we can get it moving as quickly as possible. That will come up in the Council of Europe in the coming month. I very much appreciate the comments both Senators have made.

I also want to respond to my colleague and, indeed, friend, Senator Davitt, on the issue of Palestine which I was going to raise today anyway. I was going to raise this issue, not least because last Monday was the anniversary of the Nakba when 700,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced and 15,000 were massacred back in 1948, but also to reflect on current horrors there. Senators will be aware in the last few days we have seen Israeli warplanes carry out a whole host of air strikes and we know that latest aggression killed 33 Palestinians, including seven children, four women and a doctor. The number of Palestinians killed this year to date is now 148, which includes 26 children and six women. The statistics do not really tell the story. I do not know whether all Members get these postcards from Sadaqa that detail and picture these poor innocent children who have been murdered by Israeli occupation forces. Omar Awadin was riding his bicycle in front of his parent's shop when he was gunned down. Just a couple of weeks back, a 16-year-old Palestinian boy named Mohammad Farid Mohammad Haj Ahmad was fired on as he stood with several other Palestinian civilians sheltering between a mosque and a clinic. This is the reality. These young children were murdered and gunned down by the Israeli occupation forces.

It is really important to recognise that Israel is an apartheid state. Amnesty International has declared this, as has Human Rights Watch. More than 450 separate NGOs have recognised that Israel is an apartheid state and that makes a fundamental difference in terms of how we should deal with it. That is why I was very frustrated that the Government took a decision to postpone Deputy Brady's excellent Bill. Surely we can all agree that Irish taxpayers' money should not be going to fund companies that are operating illegally in the occupied territories of Palestine. This simple Bill would simply have stopped that from happening. We did not need to postpone it for nine months. How many more children are going to die in the coming nine months? We could have simply dealt with it on Committee Stage. It is a very solid Bill which has widespread support internationally. I appeal to both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. I know from speaking to some of the Members, so many agree that what is happening in Palestine is fundamentally wrong and that we need to do more. I ask that they please have a discussion in their own parliamentary parties, revisit this topic, and give Deputy Brady's Bill the support it deserves so that we can do something tangible. Words are not enough when it comes to Palestine. We need actions that stand up for human rights.