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Northern Ireland

My Lords, I am delighted to have the opportunity to take part in this debate. I pay tribute to the noble Baroness, Lady Park of Monmouth, and I also thank my noble friend Lord Maginnis of Drumglass for allowing me to change places with him on the speakers’ list. I also join other noble Lords in wishing well the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, on his appointment to activities in Northern Ireland. It has been pointed out that he is a straightforward speaker—and that is what we prefer in Northern Ireland. The issue to which I referred your Lordships’ House in the address on the Queen’s Speech, I must return to in this debate. I can think of no issue which has such far-reaching potential for undermining the democratic process than the continuing white collar terrorism of Sinn Fein/IRA in both Northern Ireland and in the Irish Republic. I refer to the scandal of IRA money laundering and their sleepers and agents secreted among the population in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and here in Great Britain. The activities of Mr Philip Flynn, a friend and associate of Mr Bertie Ahern, demand further examination. This man played a role as chairman of the Bank of Scotland (Ireland), while at the heart of government in the Republic and was also an adviser to Sinn Fein/IRA on business organisation, including finance. I acknowledge that since I spoke on this issue two weeks ago, an investigation started into the loan book of the Belfast branch of the Bank of Scotland. My only hope is that the Police Service of Northern Ireland fraud squad will get total access to all papers relating to money lending by that office. The response of the   Irish Prime Minister, Mr Ahern, to this remains totally complacent. It appears that Mr Ahern had secret meetings recently with Sinn Fein/IRA. In the light of these revelations, apart altogether from the appropriateness of such contacts, many of us will wonder whether its purpose was to emphasise the requirements of constitutional politics or to receive further demands of a non-constitutional organisation. Any other Prime Minister who had knowingly allowed a senior member of a revolutionary movement, known to be associated with terrorists, into a position of massive influence, would by now have resigned. One thing is quite certain. This man, Mr Ahern, in the eyes of all Unionists, has not just compromised but totally forfeited any claim that he might have had to consider himself an honest broker. As for the Irish bank regulator, who sat on his hands and did nothing, he should do the decent thing and resign. And heads should roll at the Bank of Scotland. Aiding and abetting any form of money laundering, let alone that for terrorist use, is a particularly heinous crime in a civilised society. The information about the activity of Mr Flynn and   his associates is beginning to flow—and it is frightening. Did Flynn have access to 10 Downing Street or any of the confidential correspondence exchanged between the two Prime Ministers? Did Flynn use his influence over Mr Ahern to gain access to documents relating to recent political talks? Did   Flynn advise the Irish Prime Minister about Sinn Fein/IRA? One other issue in which Flynn is believed to be involved was the IRA demand that the killers of police detective Jerry McCabe should be released. In my view   this outraged many law-abiding citizens in the Republic. I today ask Mr Ahern to do something any decent politician would have undertaken months ago. That is to apologise to Jerry McCabe’s widow, Ann, for the way she and her family have been treated and humiliated, just to satisfy the IRA. The web of blackmail and terror continues to unravel. One of Flynn’s principal allies, a Frank Connolly, is well-known to the police in many countries, as is Flynn’s house guest, Brian Keenan—a member of the IRA ruling council. Keenan set the deal up for the IRA to provide training to the FARC terrorists in Columbia with another top IRA leader, Padraig Wilson. It was Padraig Wilson who accompanied Frank Connolly when they travelled to Columbia on false passports and were filmed arriving at Bogota airport. Mr Connolly is the brother of one of the infamous ““Columbia three””. That brother was the IRA’s representative in Cuba and is now hiding somewhere in South America after jumping bail in Columbia. Frank is the chief executive of the Centre for Public Inquiry. Mr Philip Flynn was a founder and a board member of the self-styled Centre for Public Inquiry. Connolly, who was questioned by the police, will not discuss his visit to South America. That is strange for a CEO of a Centre for Public Inquiry. Perhaps the former High Court judge, Mr Fergus Flood, who also sits on the board of the CPI, would ask his chief executive what he was doing travelling on a false passport to South America with Padraig Wilson, a senior IRA terrorist. I noted this morning that BBC Radio Ulster, in its total naivety, interviewed Frank Connelly about police corruption in the Republic. It is a pity that such a person is given such credibility. It would have been better if the interviewer had asked him what he was doing in Columbia with false passports. All the information about Flynn and much, much more than I have outlined in this House, is know to the police and to the Irish Government. So why does Mr Ahern cover up for his friend Flynn? A senior adviser to Mr Blair outraged many when he was reported in the media as saying that he had no problem whatever if the whole island of Ireland became awash with gangster-style mafia, like Italy or Russia—as long as it did not get into England. But when you feed the tiger, at some stage the tiger will eat you. It seems to me that all of us, no matter what our politics are on the island of Ireland, are to be the sacrifice. At the expense of boring your Lordships’ House, I am compelled to return to the issue of Waterways Ireland. Many investigative journalists are each day unearthing more and more scandals about this body. One of the official investigations into bullying found that the chief executive had bullied a senior member of staff. Yet the result of the report is that the chief executive is still in his job and the man he bullied has lost his. By whose standards is that justice? There are 20 further investigations still to be reported upon. It seems to many of us that there is a deliberate attempt to ignore or downgrade these complaints. Collectively, 20 senior managers wrote to the chief executive of Waterways Ireland in April 2004. Extracts from the letter are as follows:"““We want to express our concerns about certain key issues which have a bearing on all of us, namely the state of management-employee relationships and certain management practices within the organisation . . .  It is our view that there is an absence of effective management which is having a detrimental effect on the whole organisation . . .  It is our considered view that these issues are increasingly resulting in failure of Waterways Ireland to deliver its function and remit””." In April 2004, the group wrote to the sponsoring departments:"““Whilst the birth of any new body is not without periods of pain and anxiety, it is with a real sense of sadness, deep anger and frustration that we are writing this letter . . .  Instead of being a model of best practice in the public sector, Waterways Ireland is a dysfunctional organisation rife with internal conflict which is not realising its full potential . . .  Over the last number of years we have repeatedly raised issues with the chief executive and his directors only for them to be dismissed or ignored . . .  Most disturbingly, there have been instances of bullying and intimidation by senior management . . .  We find the process put in train by the CE to investigate these matters completely unacceptable specifically in relation to issues of bullying and harassment . . .  we have lost all confidence in our CE’s ability to address them. The undersigned remain deeply committed to the success of Waterways Ireland . . .  We trust that our appeal will receive your urgent attention””." Very, very little has happened about these complaints and the frustration continues. Senior staff were recruited, and in some cases promoted, without open competition, which is a cornerstone of employment practice in Northern Ireland. Putting your friends into a job is cronyism and is not acceptable. The job in question was the director of communications and marketing. It is a job for which very many people, including me, would have been qualified. But we were never given the opportunity. I am saying clearly that this appointment and others were made through discrimination and must be undone. Recently, Deloitte and Touche carried out a risk assessment of Waterways Ireland and some of the key conclusions were: a lack of leadership at senior level in   tackling key issues; a failure to ensure appropriate management arrangements; a financial resources failure to achieve value for money; a failure to deliver on projected objectives and targets; and risk of fraud. The same consultants also highlighted major health and safety risks that are frightening in the extreme. These issues must be addressed before someone is hurt or worse. The tourist trade in Fermanagh, which relies heavily on the lakes, is being damaged by the dysfunctional nature of Waterways Ireland. I would underline that problems in that organisation concern all political parties, not just Unionists. We did not sign up to cross-border bodies to create this type of organisation, which seems to be out of control. These issues will not go away and must be cleaned up.   Only last month, the chief executive of the Sperrin Lakeland Trust had to resign after a similar report of dreadful risk assessment. Yet nearby in Waterways Ireland the chief executive cannot be touched. The entire management team is frustrated by the Irish Government’s failure to take action. More and more people from all parts of the community are asking why. My Lords, the future of Northern Ireland must be one of total equality and respect for the law. Anything else and we are doomed.