TO hear John Bruton say that the IRA is diverting the Garda Siochana from its war with drugs is like inhaling a blast of best Moroccan Gold. I wonder was the Taoiseach seen bending "forward and inhaling lines of white stuff on the platform of the international crime conference where he uttered these words? Did he turn to the Minister for Justice while she was drawing deeply on a badly made cigarette and murmured "Hey man, don't bogart that joint, my friend," while the kaftaned minister was nodding her head to some internal rhythm, dicking her fingers, and chanting something by Donovan?
He would have needed to be on something to get his perception of the primary duties of the forces of law and order so totally wrong. Taoiseach, my dear, preceding in importance and historically antedating the menace of drugs for any police force is the preservation of the state against internal subversion and assault. In this State, the IRA is not some new and bizarre threat, which has us all at little baffled (Jeez, Nora, where did all these guys come from?).
First enemy of the Statue
The IRA was the first enemy of this State, and it only refrains from murdering its servants not because of some high moral purpose, but because it goes down badly with the public when gardai are bumped off while doing their duty.
But it has bumped off a lot in its time most gardai killed since the foundation of the State were murdered by the very organisation which the Taoiseach seems to think is diverting the Garda Siochana from its real work. Excuse me Taoiseach, but do you want a list of all gardai murdered. Maybe I should give you one.
Garda Henry Phelan, murdered by the IRA, 1922 Sgt James Woods, murdered by the IRA, 1923 Garda Patrick O'Halloran, murdered by the IRA, 1923 Sgt Thomas Griffin and Garda John Murray, murdered by the IRA 1924 Garda Thomas Dowling, murdered by a potin gang, 1925 Sgt James Fitzsimmons and Garda Hugh Ward, murdered by the IRA, 1926 Garda Timothy O'Sullivan, murdered by the IRA, 1929 Supt John Curtin, murdered by the IRA, 1931 Garda John Roche, murdered by the IRA, 1940 Sgt Patrick McKeown, and Garda Richard Hyland, murdered by the IRA, 1940 Sgt Denis O'Brien, murdered by the IRA, 1942 Garda Michael Walsh, murdered by the IRA, 1942 Garda Richard Fallon, shot by republican terrorists, 1970 Inspector Samduel Donegan, murdered by the IRA, 1972 Garda Michael Reynolds, murdered by republican terrorists, 1975 Garda Michael Clerkin, murdered by, the IRA, 1976 Garda John Francis Morley and Garda Henry Byrne, murdered by republican terrorists, 1980 Garda James Quaid, murdered by the IRA, 1980 Garda Patrick Reynolds, murdered by the IRA, 1982 Garda Patrick McLoughlin, murdered 1982 Recruit Peter Sheehan, murdered by the IRA, 1983 Garda Francis Hand, murdered by the IRA, 1984 Sgt Patrick Morrissey, murdered by the IRA and, a few days before John Bruton's fascinating little criminology observations, Garda Jerry McCabe, murdered by the IRA.
Substantial list of victims
That's a fairly substantial list Taoiseach and let me tell you something. Not one of those gardai was killed by a drugs baron, though I note potin "barons" murdered one officer. Yet you were able to say last week "Combating the drugs menace is a huge and extremely demanding task on its own without any other responsibilities being imposed upon our police force (my italics). It is terrible that the men and women of our police force who are working so bravely to combat the menace of drugs in our society to combat it within the law should find themselves distracted from that socially important task by the continued activities of an anti Irish organisation such as the IRA."
How did you come to utter such frivolous piffle as this? If it we're us that, it would be a little disturbing but I fear that it is not. I think it indicates the depth of the misperception of, the IRA within the political establishment of this country that the Provos are some temporarily delinquent group who just need a little straightening out.
Listen. This is not a 1938 movie, with that young tear away Danny O'Malley, needing that tough, two fisted priest, Spencer Tracy, to knock some sense into what is clearly a good if a trifle misguided soul. This is the business, the goods the central problem of this State, from the beginning of its existence, unchanged, unchanging, unchangeable.
It is not a question of Gerry Adams this or Gerry Adams that. Gerry Adams clearly is a man of great charm and charism, and he seems to have be a dazzled the Dublin political establishment. But he cannot deliver the republican movement from its fundamental and core position Brits out and a united Ireland.
Unvarying demands
Listen to his words he never deviates from those demands. He has the unusual characteristic of never veering from what he believes. He has a republican constituency he has to keep happy, and there would be uproar in the home base if he ever said the words unionist consent to a united Ireland is essential.
Nothing that the republican leadership has ever said indicates moderation of ambition nothing. Yet you speak and behave as if its terrorism were an irritating diversion from the real war, with drugs dealers. The bail laws, we hear, might be changed because of the abuse of bail by drugs dealers IRA men have been flouting the laws for years with no such angry response. You talk of electronic tagging of drugs offenders, of the confiscation of assets, or the restriction of normal people's freedoms.
Why did you never propose such methods to deal with a terrorist organisation which has levied the most atrocious war for a quarter of a century in which thousands died? You have wielded no stick in response to Ad are and Manchester and received no meaningful answers to the questions which followed those atrocities. Sinn Fein IRA seem to have your measure, and are unafraid of you but you scare the hell out of me.