Micheál Martin

I thank all of the Deputies for raising a range of issues. Deputy Smith was the first to raise the issue of legacy. I believe there is a sincere commitment on behalf of the British Government as to the implementation of the legacy framework. That is shared by Prime Minister Starmer and, indeed, Secretary of State Hilary Benn, who has acted honourably in all of the negotiations and discussions in r…

It was a legitimate consultation. If the Deputy believes in freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, what he and like-minded people were about was stopping that from even happening. They never complain about that. It is fair play for them to do that. There is balance here.

Of course the Deputy knows about the protests. She knows all about them.

They were on the public television, for God's sake.

They were on the public television, in the media and everywhere. In this House-----

-----assertions were made. I am not calling it that.

The point I am illustrating is that there are different forms of protest on the continuum and some of those forms are unacceptable-----

-----as an infringement of the rights of people generally. That is the point I am making.

It is not a one-way street-----

-----all of the time. That is the point I am making. Ramming gates at Shannon Airport is not a legitimate form of protest. Stopping trade through Dublin Port is not a legitimate form of protest-----

-----because people's livelihood depends on it. Eighty per cent of trade in this country goes through Dublin Port. Having a problem with a company is not a justification, in my view, for disrupting the entire port. I have no problem having a debate. I participated in protests as a student. I think student protests are important.

I did, actually

The Deputy can do that. Joe Duffy was put in prison as a result of that protest. It was to do with medical cards. There you are now. Students in this country automatically had medical cards at one time. That was taken away in the eighties. The point is that legitimate protests-----

I think it was the Deputy's former colleagues in the Labour Party.

That is history. Protests happen, and I have no issue with that, but there is a continuum. I will take the Ceann Comhairle's advice. To Deputy Ó Murchú, I have dealt with some of the legacy issues, which Deputy Conway-Walsh also raised. I will talk to Queen's University on that point. In terms of the Dundalk bombing and the Glennane gang, I hope Operation Denton will shed light on that.

I will come to that. On Deputy Boyd Barrett's question, there is no relationship between the strategy and policy of the Israeli Government and my views on the renaming of Herzog Park. I have a very basic view. Throughout the history of the State, there have been namings and renamings. I am, and have been, a student of history and I taught students. I always showed them that the names of parks coul…

There will not be a history left.

That is not the point.

It is, actually, if you go back through his father and before that and examine how Jewish communities came to Ireland in the first instance. There is huge history there, for God's sake.

As a historian and someone who is interested in history, I would be very careful.

Breandán Ó hEithir wrote in Lig Sinn i gCathú about the thirties when places were being shut down left, right and centre.

There is a lot more to it than that, but it has nothing to do with this. I can put Deputy Boyd Barrett at ease in that regard.

By the way, I object, like the Deputy does, to Israel's consistent messaging that if you are not onside, you are offside or antisemitic. That is wrong. You are entitled to be against Israeli Government policy and criticise it and not be labelled antisemitic. That is absolutely correct and I support it. Deputy Tóibín should talk to his former colleagues in Sinn Féin in earnest and engage with them…

Under the shared island initiative, we are trying to do specific projects and programmes, for example in paediatric and cardiovascular health, cardiac surgery and the cancer centre at Altnagelvin hospital. Those are good programmes that have worked very well. Deputy Quaide referred to Prime Minister Starmer. I do not see him as an authoritarian person when I meet him. I spoke about the continuum …

-----of the origins of our neutrality.