§ 4. Mr. Michael McNair-Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement about the operations of the security forces in the Province.
§ 6. Mr. Molyneauxasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on frontier security.
§ Mr. Humphrey AtkinsResponsibility for all law enforcement operations, on the border or elsewhere, rests with the Royal Ulster Constabulary, which is supported as necessary by the Army. The primary aim of the Chief Constable, as of the Government, is to extend normal law and order conditions and normal policing to all parts of Northern Ireland. The RUC is continuing to make considerable progress in this direction, although, as the House knows, it is never my practice to discuss security force operations in detail.
In the border areas, six men were arrested in suspicious circumstances near the County Fermanagh border on 14 March. A number of firearms were recovered and all six men have been charged with serious offences, including one with murder.
§ Mr. McNair-WilsonMy right hon. Friend is clearly aware of the widespread revulsion over the brutal murder of Mrs. Joanna Mathers, the census collector in Londonderry. In order to ensure that her courage and sacrifice are not in vain, will my right hon. Friend give an absolute assurance that those who have sought to destroy, or not fill in, their census forms will be prosecuted?
§ Mr. AtkinsAnybody who breaks the law, whether by destroying census forms or by murdering a census enumerator, as happened in Londonderry two days ago, will be pursued with the utmost rigour by the RUC. The murder was a most despicable action by a man as yet undiscovered. I understand that the Provisional IRA has disclaimed responsibility, but the House will know that forensic tests have proved that the weapon has been used in more than one Provisional IRA punishment shooting.
§ Mr. MolyneauxIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the deployment of Army units in forward positions on the frontier has done a great deal to restore stability and confidence in that area and has led to the RUC and the UDR being free to concentrate on anti-terrorist activities elsewhere? Will the right hon. Gentleman ensure that that effective strategy is maintained?
§ Mr. AtkinsThe deployment of Army units is primarily a matter for the General Officer Commanding, who is paying particular attention to the border areas, because there is a greater need for Army units to be deployed there than elsewhere. I am glad to hear the hon. Gentleman say that that strategy if giving comfort to those who live in border areas. It is also reducing the opportunities for terrorists to go about their evil works and increasing the chances of their being caught.
§ Mr. KilfedderIf the IRA terrorist who foully murdered Mrs. Joanna Mathers has escaped, as is feared, across the border into the Irish Republic, he will be able to claim before the Eire courts that his offence was a political one and thereby escape extradition and the full rigours of justice. Will the right hon. Gentleman press the Eire Government to take action to end that disgraceful situation?
§ Mr. AtkinsThe hon. Gentleman's remarks are hypothetical, but I take the point about extradition. He will know that the Government have often made clear, and will do so again, that we regard extradition as the most effective way of bringing fugitive terrorists to justice.
§ Mr. McCuskerDoes the right hon. Gentleman agree that if the RUC is to be successful it must be afforded every reasonable facility to enable it to pursue terrorists? Is it not disgraceful that a young policeman died in my constituency last week because the RUC station at Bessbrook did not have sufficient car parking facilities'? The policeman had to park his car beyond the security surveillance and consequently terrorists were able to plant an anti-personnel device which blew him into three or four pieces.
§ Mr. AtkinsObviously the RUC is anxious to take every possible step to protect, for example, the vehicles of its members and that was the case as regards the police constable whose car was destroyed by a bomb a little while ago. It is not always possible to give total protection to everybody and it is necessary to rely on the eternal vigilance of individuals.
§ Mr. Wm. Rossrose—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I have just learnt that the lady concerned was a constituent of the hon. Member for Londonderry (Mr. Ross).
§ Mr. FittIs it not a fact that not only the Irish Government, but the United States Government, refuse to extradite known IRA people? Is it not also a fact that a person is pleading before the American courts that he was defending the Catholic population in Northern Ireland in 1978 when he committed firearms offences? Will the right hon. Gentleman take it from me that throughout the past 10 or 12 years of bloodthirsty murder in Northern Ireland the IRA has never defended the Catholic population in Northern Ireland?
§ Mr. AtkinsI shall take that from the hon. Gentleman, who knows as well as any of us about the IRA's activities. It remains Her Majesty's Government's view that extradition, as it is practised in Britain, is the best way of bringing to justice fugitive terrorists and fugitive criminals of all sorts. We wish that every other country would do as we do.
§ Mr. ConcannonIs the Secretary of State aware that it is the Opposition's view that the voters in Fermanagh and South Tyrone have a unique opportunity today to denounce the men of violence? Does he recognise that it is our view that a vote for Mr. Sands is a vote of approval for the perpetrators of the La Mon massacre, the murder of Lord Mountbatten at Warrenpoint and all the other senseless murders that have taken place in Northern Ireland over the years, including the latest brutal and inhuman killing of Mrs. Mathers, the census enumerator? We sincerely hope that those in Fermanagh and South Tyrone who attend the election today will take that attitude into the polling booth with them.
§ Mr. AtkinsI am glad to hear the right hon. Gentleman's point of view while speaking on behalf of the 1102 Opposition. I do not believe that the electors of Fermanagh and South Tyrone need any guidance from me about the clear choice that is before them.