HC Deb 21 April 1980 vol 983 cc28-34
The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Mr. Michael Alison)

I will, with permission, Mr. Speaker, make a statement on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, who is in Belfast today consulting his security advisers about the unsuccessful mortar attack on Newry police station during this weekend.

On Saturday 19 April at lunch time an explosion occurred in the gable wall of Newry RUC station. A minute later an explosion occurred on a lorry parked some 100 yards away and screened from the police station by intervening buildings. The lorry had been hijacked by holding a family at gunpoint at Crossmaglen from 10 am until about the time of the explosion.

Investigation revealed a number of loaded mortar tubes, which the Army successfully disarmed. Twenty-six civilians and two policemen were injured. I am glad to say that, with one exception—a boy who suffered a broken leg—the injuries sustained were not serious, and those who were injured were quickly released from hospital.

I cannot express too strongly the revulsion felt by the Government, and, I feel sure, by hon. Members on both sides of the House, as well as by the public at large, at this callous attack, which put sharply at risk the lives and limbs of ordinary members of the public. Needless to say, intensive police investigations into this outrage are continuing.

I extend my profound apologies to hon. Members to whom the courtesy of advance notice of a statement is usually given for the failure of the Government on this occasion to produce the statement as rapidly as is normal. That was because we wished to get the most up-to-date information from Belfast, and the lines there are sometimes interrupted.

Mr. John

Will the hon. Gentleman accept the Opposition's abhorrence of all the crimes committed during the last week, including the murder of a former UDR member and the destruction of hotels, to which no reference was made in his statement? Important though damage to property is, particularly in denying employment, at a time of high unemployment in Northern Ireland, does he agree that it is clearly subordinate to the death and injury caused? Will he convey our deep sympathy to the bereaved and to the injured?

I should like to put a series of questions to the Minister. Clearly, some of the crimes—for example, one of the hotel explosions last Tuesday—originated in the Republic. Will the Secretary of State's talks help in a practical way to strengthen cross-border security? Is it not disturbing that the attack on the police station at Newry was launched from a not inconspicuous vehicle by a timing device? Does the hon. Gentleman know how long it was parked at the site before the explosions occurred? Does he accept that there is a case either for preventing parking within a certain distance of a police station or for regular checks by the police to prevent vehicles being parked in such a perimeter, so as to deny a repetition of this incident and to deny terrorists the opportunity of setting off explosions by timing devices?

Mr. Alison

I am obliged to the hon. Gentleman for his words of condolence, which I am sure are echoed in every part of the House and which are certainly shared by the Government for those who were damaged or injured in this senseless outrage.

I assure the hon. Gentleman that the subject of security was touched upon during the recent exchanges between my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and Ministers in the Republic. The talks were helpful and constructive.

I cannot give the hon. Gentleman precise information about the time during which the lorry was parked on the site from which the damage was done. That is part of the ongoing investigation by the police. In my statement I indicated that the hijacking occurred at 10 o'clock that day, although information about the hijacking did not come through until after the outrage. The lorry was parked some distance from the target, with intervening buildings screening it. The question of regular investigation of suspiciously parked vehicles is part of the regular work of the security forces. I cannot say until after the investigations have been completed whether routine checks had been made on the vehicle.

Mr. J. Enoch Powell

Is the Minister of State aware that nothing can excuse the Government's failure to inform the right hon. Member for the constituency concerned that there was an intention to make a statement today? Is he further aware that the gain, if any, of a few minutes' additional information is not sufficient compensation for the failure to observe the normal courtesy of the House in making a statement available 20 minutes or so in advance to those primarily concerned? Are the Government aware that the greatest contribution that they can make to the prevention of a repetition of these and similar events is to desist from behaviour that conveys to the IRA the message that the status and future of Northern Ireland might be radically altered?

Mr. Alison

There is no one to whom I should be more inclined to extend the courtesy of providing information about such events as these than the right hon. Gentleman. I hope that he will accept my profound apologies that he was not informed in advance of the statement. I asked my private office to ensure that all right hon. and hon. Members to whom such a statement might be relevant were given notice in advance. I assumed that the information reached the right hon. Gentleman. I apologise for the lapse.

The right hon. Gentleman also mentioned not having been given an advance copy of the statement. I have already apologised for that. My decision was that the latest and most relevant information should be provided, and there was some difficulty in communications.

I note the right hon. Gentleman's point about the wider aspects of the political situation in the Province. It is in the minds of the Government at all times to conduct political and security operations with a view to maximising the effectiveness of the security of innocent members of the public in the Province. In our judgment, nothing in the Government's present policy in any way undermines the security and defence effort that we are making in the Province.

Rev. Ian Paisley

I welcome the Minister's statement, but does he understand that the people of Northern Ireland will find it strange that he makes a statement when no lives are taken—although it was no doubt a serious incident—but when lives are taken and young police officers are brutally murdered and people are concerned no statement is forthcoming? Does he accept that the people of Northern Ireland will wish to identify with the statement by the official Opposition spokesman and that our condolences and sympathy go to all those people who have been bereaved?

Will the Minister tell the House what steps he will take to stop the genocide of Protestants in the border areas of Fermanagh, where the most prominent Protestant citizens are being gunned down week by week until farmsteads and homesteads are bereft of fathers and where families are being wiped out systematically? What will the Minister do about that serious situation?

Mr. Alison

It is not fair to say that we do not make statements except on odd occasions when individual lives are lost. We made a statement today because of the exceptional character of the potential threat. We make statements frequently when individual lives or groups of lives are lost. It is not the Government's normal practice to make a statement on the occasion of each death that occurs in the Province. We publish regular figures. The regular opportunities to question Ministers and our regular debates on security make possible broad statements and information. We give information to the House when we judge that it is particularly relevant. We often give information when individuals are killed.

I note the hon. Member's reference to the security position in Fermanagh. The Government are acutely aware that one life lost is one too many and is unacceptable. The security operations in Fermanagh and elsewhere are the most considered, the most effective and most determined possible within the logistical limitations placed upon any Government when conducting such operations. We cannot always guarantee that we shall prevent each potential murderer from committing a murder. It is beyond the wit of any security force to prohibit every assassination. We prevent and inhibit many and we apprehend and imprison many of the terrorists who commit the murders. I am certain that we shall capture the men responsible for the murders to which the hon. Gentleman referred.

Mr. Dalyell

Have the Government identified the origin of the mortar shells? Were they home-made? If not, what was their country of origin?

Mr. Alison

That is a subject of the investigations. Although I tried to give the House the latest possible information, which is one reason why some of the material was late in being presented to the House, I am not yet able to answer that question definitely.

Mr. Peter Robinson

I join in the expression of revulsion at the horrific act by the IRA in Newry. Does the Minister accept that such acts fail to cause death more because of the bad way in which they are handled by the IRA than because of the good security that the Government are providing for the people of Northern Ireland? Can he confirm that the origin of the explosives used at Newry was the Republic of Ireland? What steps is he taking to ensure that no further substances cross the border?

What is the latest news on investigations into the murder of Frederick Victor Wilson, the young police reservist who was killed in a Belfast car park? What progress has been made in finding his killers? Will the hon. Gentleman pass on to those responsible the appreciation of Northern Ireland people of the Army bomb disposal officers, who carried out a magnificent task in defusing the remaining cartridges?

Mr. Alison

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I shall convey his thanks to the officers and men concerned. However, I dispute that the blundering inefficiency of the terrorists has led to the relief of innocent people in the Province from the effects of terrorism. Both in the Republic and in the Province, the work of the security forces on both sides of the border has resulted in considerable finds of arms, explosives and ammunition and in the inhibition or aborting of a number of potential attacks on the public which but for the efficiency of covert investigatory work by the security forces might have resulted in explosions. The steady downward trend in attacks in the Province in recent years and months is the result of successful work by the security forces involving the police and the Army.

I am unable to give the origin of the explosives. That question is being investigated. I shall try to give the House the information when it is available.

We cannot yet give the hon. Gentleman the good news that the murderer to whom he referred has been apprehended. We have a steady and increasing success rate in the detection and apprehension of terrorists. A large number are in prison. I have every reason to hope that we shall get hold of the murderer.

Mr. McQuade

Is the Minister aware of the continuing attacks on Protestant people by Republican gangs in the Dun-cairn area? Will he list the steps that he is prepared to take to provide proper security for the area, where in the past week there has been no security at all?

Mr. Alison

This attack bore no relation to the community background, religion or faith or the views or sympathies of any of the people who were injured. It was an indiscriminate attack and, like all or most terrorist attacks in the Province, no regard was paid to the character, age, sex or background of the individuals who were attacked and injured. I cannot give a full catalogue of the very large number of techniques, methods and successful operations carried out in order to inhibit attacks, but very large numbers of successful operations in this direction are carried out. But, as I told the House in answer to an earlier question, we cannot guarantee total immunity from terrorist attacks to every individual in the Province, given the nature of an open and democratic society and the necessity to allow a good deal of personal freedom.