O'Malley, Desmond J.Tuesday, 23 May 1972 |
Dáil Eireann Debate
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Prisons Bill, 1972: First Stage.
I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend and extend the Prisons Acts, 1826 to 1970. 
This is a short Bill which has been brought into the House because of the events in Mountjoy Prison on last Thursday night and Friday morning. It proposes to give power to transfer prisoners to milit...
I would ask the House to take the next Stage now.
The Bill will be circulated immediately. Several copies were given this morning to each of the Opposition parties.
The remaining Stages would have to be concluded before the Seanad sits at 3 p.m. so that I could go to the Seanad at 3 o'clock with the Bill.
Committee on Finance. - Prisons Bill, 1972: Second Stage.
I move: “That the Bill be now read a Second Time.” I regret that a situation has arisen which compels me to come to the House and ask it to pass this Bill, the main provision of which is to authorise ...
Committee on Finance. - Prisons Bill, 1972: Second Stage (Resumed).
Corporal Stephenson.
What about the referendum?
Does the Deputy remember that during the Forcible Entry Bill controversy an Act of 1285 was being pressed on us as something that we should use?
A lot of good institutions did.
Approximately 20 Deputies, or possibly a few more, have spoken on the Bill and these constitute a very large and representative number.
I doubt if there can be any valid complaints that all points were not put and put quite adequately. I think that on the whole it is fair to say that this debate was a responsible debate and while the...
If that were so I doubt if there would be a Minister for Justice in any country in the world who had not been called on to resign during the past few months. In France alone there have been seven ser...
While I accept full responsibility for the action or failure to act on the part of my servants there is nothing that they did or failed to do for which I could be reproached.
I have sat here for most of the five hours of this debate and during that time I did not interrupt anybody except to take a very minor part in Deputy Joseph Lenehan's jocose contribution.
I would be glad if I could have some time in which to reply to about 20 speeches, most of which were good and constructive. I see nothing in what my servants did or failed to do on Thursday night whe...
——they acted splendidly and in many respects acted well beyond the call of duty. I am blamed that a riot took place in Mountjoy. By our standards, at any rate, there was a very serious riot there. ...
On my first visit to the prison I endeavoured to do away with the old traditional industries that existed in prisons, probably since the last century. These were useless so far as rehabilitation was ...
When one gets over the initial horror and shock of what I saw happen on Thursday night and Friday morning last, one's greatest regret in retrospect is not so much that men acted as they did, and that ...
It is, but it is limited to five or six cells.
I most certainly do not admit it is true.
I most certainly do not admit it is true. It is impossible for any prison officer who has to lock up 510 prisoners, as was the case in Mountjoy last Thursday, to carry 510 separate keys. Indeed, I v...
I welcomed the suggestion on previous occasions when it was made on the other side of this House.
I got applications from two Deputies, Deputy Fitzpatrick of Meath. I immediately Bruton of Meath. I immediately replied that they were more than welcome to visit. Unfortunately, so far as I am awar...
I would suggest that Deputies would, as far as possible, come together because it would be more convenient for the prison staff to show a number of Deputies over the prison at the same time but, subje...
The Curragh is and will remain a matter entirely for the Minister for Defence. I have no reason whatever to think that the Minister for Defence will refuse any bona fide Deputy and I will use my good...
I have just been reminded that Deputy O'Connell visited Mountjoy. (Interruptions.)
How many years ago was that?
Deputy Cruise-O'Brien in his contribution tonight appeared to support the Bill fairly strenuously, with some slightly irrelevant reservations.
I would not expect the Deputy to; if the Deputy supported me I would be in strange company. The Deputy referred, by implication more or less, to Deputies of this party who have, as he described it, sy...
He described the alleged connection of some members of this party with the Provisional IRA as an unholy alliance. (Interruptions.)
I deliberately did not interrupt Deputy Cruise-O'Brien, even though he said things which I knew were untrue.
I want to make it clear that there is no alliance, holy or unholy, and no sympathy on the part of any man who sits in these benches with either the Provisional IRA or the Official IRA.
When I say this I am very conscious of the fact that, in saying this, it is more than anyone can say for the Labour Party.
It was revealing to see Deputy Corish—and I felt sympathy for him—open for the Labour Party and declare at the end of his speech that as far as the Labour Party were concerned it was a free vote and a...
Perhaps the reason is that the last time he spoke in this House on my Estimate he spent a great deal of time criticising me and the Garda Síochána for affording protection to certain lorries plying on...
Some days after this had been debated here a man named Woods in Newry was shot through the legs and his supermarket blown up beyond repair; and before he was shot he was told that this was done becaus...
I accuse no such person. The Official IRA issued a statement accepting responsibility for this act.
Deputy Corish, together with a number of other Deputies, inquired why people should be on remand so long. I think this inquiry is fair enough.
I accuse the Official IRA of this act because they admitted responsibility for it.
We had some cases of persons being held for some months in the file of prisoners on remand. I want——
I am endeavouring to come to it.
Before coming to that I want to deal with the question of remands, because most of the prisoners in Mountjoy who were involved in this matter were, in fact, on remand. The first point in regard to it...
In view of the opinions expressed fairly widely in the House and in most cases quite genuinely I feel I should accede to those views and include some time limit. I did mention that the repair of Moun...
No. This military detention barracks which we are using at the Curragh is in the middle of a large military complex. It creates enormous problems if there is any question of divided responsibility. ...
I did no such thing.
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