THE PRESS MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1976. New mood in Dublin

Press, 6 September 1976, Page 16

THE PRESS MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1976. New mood in Dublin

A few weeks ago, after the murder in Dublin of the newly appointed British Ambassador, Mr Ewart-Biggs, the reaction in Britain and in the Irish Republic indicated a determination to reject the weaknesses in law enforcement which were allowing terrorism to flourish, and to find and punish those who continued to practise it. The signs at that time have been confirmed by powers which Mr Liam Cosgrave is proposing to take to curb the activities of the Irish Republican Army, more particularly those of the ruthless Provisional Wing.

In spite of the reservations of the Fianna Fail Opposition, the new emergency powers are expected to become law this month. They are in fact of a kind already being applied in British courts and are designed to overtake, rather than outpace, the emergency Jaws which have existed for some time m Northern Ireland. When it is asked—as it frequently is—why they have not been more effectively used, the answer is that those whose duty it is to prosecute have to overcome the difficulty of getting evidence which the courts can accept as adequate. Fear of reprisals, especially in Ulster, has increasingly acted as a powerful deterrent; witnesses do not come forward and are reluctant to risk being added to the killers’ lists. Anti-terrorist laws in the Republic, which have often been criticised as being weak almost to the point of irresponsibility, are to be sharpened to cut more deeply than might have been expected even a few months ago. Mr Cosgrave gave an indication of the new temper emerging in Dublin when, referring to the Provisionals, he said that they were “ men of violence.

dedicated to the overthrow of the institutions of this State ”. The severity of the proposed measures clearly reflects the depth of this feeling. They are notable especially for a severe increase in the weight of penalties. Membership of an illegal organisation, for example, may now incur a prison sentence of seven years, instead of two. A new offence, incitement to join or assist an illegal body, will carry a penalty of up to 10 years. The authority of the Army to check border intrusions will be strengthened by the use of independent checkpoints—not necessarily in co-operation with the police—and by authorisation to search and arrest without warrant. These special powers mean, quite simply, that the security forces on both sides of the border will gain in efficiency from the opportunity to act quickly, without the encumbrance of red tape. If the emergency laws work as they promise to do, slowly perhaps, the terrorists may at last find themselves literally fighting for survival. What is becoming abundantly clear, as outrage piles on outrage, is that public opinion in the North and in the South, is becoming more bitterly hostile to terrorism than at any time during the six-year period of armed subversion. Mr Cosgrave must be relying on such opinion to sustain his exceptional powers. A common need for peace and security is drawing Belfast, Dublin, and London into closer contact. That development, in itself, is an encouragement for the future: for, if the extremists can be intercepted, people of more moderate —though divided—opinions may win a chance to reconcile the divisions in Northern Ireland.