§ 7. Rev. Martin Smythasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will seek to obtain a transcript of the interview given to Radio Telefis Eireann by the Earl of Gowrie on 4 May and place it in the Library.
§ Rev. Martin SmythIs the Secretary of State aware of the grave disquiet in Northern Ireland about the recorded utterances of his noble Friend, especially his unskilled and inaccurate diagnosis of the Unionist people's mental state? Is he prepared to use his own undoubted skills to facilitate the early retirement of his noble Friend, thus fulfilling his desire to retire to the Republic of Ireland, perhaps even by voluntary redundancy?
§ Mr. PriorI strongly recommend all hon. Members to read what my noble Friend said, because it was a brilliant interview, which set out in a precise way the great difficulties between the two traditions in Northern Ireland. In that context, he was saying to the Unionists that they have the security that they require and that it was wrong for them to continue to believe that the Government were trying to sell them down the river into the South.