Seanad report

Jimmy Walsh

The Government had not closed its mind to attempting to exonerate legally the 26 Irish members of the British army who had been executed for military offences during the 1914-18 war, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern said.

He was not sure if it would be legally possible to grant what in effect would be pardons. The "Shot at Dawn" campaign had made it clear that what they wanted were pardons from the present British government as the successors of those who had been responsible for those executions.

Mr Ahern was not sure whether the giving of a pardon by an Irish government would be acceptable to the relatives of those who had been shot. The British had said they would not give a full pardon. The focus of the Irish campaign had been in relation to the precedent New Zealand had followed.

Contributing to a debate, Fine Gael leader in the House Brian Hayes said the Government should consider the possibility of providing retrospective pardons for the 26 Irish men who had been court-martialled and shot during the first World War.

Mr Ahern said the Government's unwavering objective was to find an agreed resolution on this issue that would bring comfort to the families of those who had been unjustly executed.

The Government had submitted a report on the issue to the British and Commonwealth Office. Its findings had described a military system of justice which was seriously flawed, which appeared to ignore clear evidence of medical afflictions, and which was marked by class bias and a disparity in the treatment of different nationalities, particularly Irish soldiers.

Shane Ross (Ind) said the Minister for Transport should explain to the House why he had appointed Gay Byrne as chairman of the new Road Safety Authority.

He did not share in the almost unanimous view in the House that it was an appointment that should be welcomed without question. The Seanad could show its worth by asking the Minister why Mr Byrne had been appointed and what qualifications he had.

Mr Ross noted that while describing Mr Byrne as an icon in Irish society, Mary White (FF) had pointed out that he was 72 years old. He thought if the young people of this country, who were the main culprits and offenders in terms of road accidents, did not identify with the people who were appointed "to actually administer and regulate these problems, we may have made the wrong appointment".