Lance-Corporal Michael Darcy (Hansard, 7 June 1988)

§ Rev. William McCrea (Mid-Ulster)

I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 20, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely, the murder of Lance-Corporal Michael Darcy of the UDR by the IRA on Saturday last, this being the 17th murder in the Castlederg area with not one person made amenable to the law for any of the 17 murders. I appreciate the serious nature of the business before the House today, but I would ask you, Mr. Speaker, seriously to consider the gravity and importance of the matter that I have drawn to your attention. Yesterday, with more than a thousand of my constituents, I stood at the graveside of another gallant member of the Ulster Defence Regiment. The murder of Lance-Corporal Michael Darcy is specific. He was gunned down on Saturday morning outside his widowed mother's home in Castlederg. His only crime was that he was a member of the Ulster Defence Regiment and a Protestant in a border village.

This sectarian murder is not an isolated incident, as Michael is the 17th member of the security forces to be murdered in the small Castlederg area. Not one person has been found guilty of, or charged with, any of the murders. The matter is important as it is evident that good, innocent, fellow British citizens are living in terror, knowing that soon the IRA murdering maniacs will strike, and possibly at them.

I believe that nothing is more worthy of urgent consideration than the lives and safety of our people. The cowardly cruelty of the murder of Michael Darcy joins a catalogue of similar depraved actions. The House must not let this death be in vain. Therefore, I ask you, Mr. Speaker, to rule that a debate be held permitting the House and the nation to stop and consider the suffering of our citizens.

I deplore the fact that the murder happened after the visit to the Castlederg area of a well-known IRA godfather, Danny Morrison. Murders have occurred on two other occasions after his visits.

I salute the memory of this gallant soldier, Michael Darcy, and the bravery of all our security forces who stand between us and the terrorists, and I offer my sympathy and love to a broken-hearted widowed mother.

§ Mr. Speaker

The hon. Gentleman asks leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 20, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that he believes should have urgent consideration, namely, the murder of Lance-Corporal Michael Darcy of the UDR by the IRA on Saturday last, this being the 17th murder in the Castlederg area with not one person made amendable to the law for any of the 17 murders. I am sure that the whole House has listened with deep concern to what the hon. Gentleman has said on behalf of his constituents—as, indeed, I have done. As he knows, my sole duty in deciding whether an application should be granted is to decide whether it should have precedence over the Orders set down for today or tomorrow. I regret that I do not think that the matter that he raised meets all the criteria laid down under the Standing Order and I cannot, therefore, submit his application to the House.