Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-29
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

I thank the Deputy for raising this. I say to her, again, that I concur that nobody wants to go back to the terror and trauma of what transpired over 28 years ago during that particular period. As I said earlier, I found the events of the past weekend deeply depressing. I think we have to focus on the next steps on how we mediate our way through this.
I have given my views on the decision. I am not going to attempt to take the House through that or indeed through whatever rationale the Parades Commission itself has given. We need to be careful of placing responsibility on the PSNI, in terms of that decision. I think the PSNI will say there were caveats to that, but I want to take the opportunity to pay tribute to the PSNI. Jon Boutcher, the Chief Constable, had one singular clear objective. I think he used the phrase that he did not want one hair on one head hurt or injured. His overarching priority after the court's decision and so on was to try to protect human life and that is important. I think we should be clear about supporting the PSNI on that objective and avoiding any action that would precipitate injury or harm to people. I make that point.
The Parades Commission has made its decision. I am clear that I find it difficult to comprehend. I believe that it was the wrong decision. From our perspective, if you look at the 28 years, it is difficult to understand why this year it was allowed. Even if we go through the very manner in which it was allowed, it seems to suggest to me that there are clear issues, if only 35 are being allowed, etc. However, we need to focus on how we can bring all the different dimensions to this together or how we can have a conversation and develop a conversation between the communities involved to try to resolve this once and for all, or to get a pathway to a resolution of this.
I listened to Chris Nelson, the son of Rosemary Nelson, this morning. He articulated the immense trauma that he endured as a result of the murder of his mother. He also said this morning that we must think of the children of this community above and beyond everything else. We just must do everything collectively that we possibly can to avoid any harm or any enduring trauma for the younger generation of the community in Drumcree and particularly along the Garvaghy Road. That has to be our singular objective. We now need to concentrate on how we get a resolution to this, which will not be easy. We have to move beyond the fact that decisions have been taken.
The courts are independent, by the way. I want to be very clear about that. If we can engage with the parties involved, hopefully, we can find a way forward.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-29/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:00:59+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-29