SINN FÉIN has sent no members of the Dáil or Seanad to a meeting of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly that began last night in the Grand Hotel in Brighton – the scene of an 1984 attack by the IRA on Margaret Thatcher.
Sinn Féin TD Padraig Mac Lochlainn has told the Assembly, which has brought together members of the Oireachtas and Westminster for over two decades, that all Sinn Féin representatives in the Republic are needed for the final days of the presidential race.
However, it is known that the choice of location did cause discomfort within Sinn Féin – a view shared by some Conservative MPs who were not involved in the original selection of the venue – although, in the end, they did not seek to have it changed.
Five people were killed in the October 1984 bombing set off by Patrick Magee. These included Conservative MP Anthony Berry. Margaret Tebbit, one of 34 people who were injured, has been confined to a wheelchair since because of injuries she sustained.
Last night, Lord John Cope, who was in the hotel when the bomb exploded, said: “Obviously, all of us who were here have memories of that event. It was traumatic and you don’t forget things like that.
“I lost friends, but I don’t want to go into it. The fact of the matter is that a lot of people – in Northern Ireland and elsewhere – have to go to places where terrible things took place. Life has to go on.”
Lord Cope is the British co-chair of the Assembly.
Fine Gael TD Joe McHugh, the Irish co-chair, said: “There is a lot of symbolism around the choice of venues in Ireland and elsewhere. I would hope that this is a symbol of a terrible past – one that we don’t want to go down again.”
Lord Cope said the Assembly remained a valuable opportunity for the Oireachtas and Westminster to get to know each other – particularly after the heavy changeover in MPs and TDs caused by the Irish and British elections.
Saying that the body now concentrated less on Northern Ireland and more on the relationships between the islands, Mr McHugh said the euro zone crisis highlighted the importance of Ireland’s relationship with Britain: “It is important that we build on it,” he added.
