I start by thanking Deputies Ó Snodaigh, Nash, Rice, Murphy and O'Gorman and former Deputy and now Uachtarán Catherine Connolly for sponsoring this important Bill. I thank the LGBT Restorative Justice Campaign, in particular my dear friend, Brian Sheehan, for its incredible campaigning on this over many years. I also want to acknowledge the Minister and Department's commitment and urgency to pass legislation that will realise the aims of the Bill. For that I thank them sincerely. The Bill is named as a disregard for historic offences for consensual sexual activity between men and aims to clear the names and records of men who historically engaged in sexual activity and were convicted of a crime for doing so. It should be noted by all good-minded people that nothing these men did then in Ireland or now anywhere was immoral or criminal. It hurt no one. Sexual relationships between consenting adults are a normal, natural and healthy part of the human experience, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. By contrast, it was the State that acted criminally and immorally, passing laws to persecute those who loved and celebrated each other and did the normal and natural things that all humans do and have done since the dawn of time. It should go without saying that the criminalisation of sexual relationships between men has an awful history and, just as awfully, still has support in other parts of the world. Thankfully, Ireland, on the whole, has moved past those times. Thankfully, we recognise that love between adults in all its incarnations is something we should not just tolerate or legalise but embrace and celebrate. Thankfully, we play a major role on the world stage for gay rights. I pay particular tribute to the courageous campaigners who did so much to help Ireland realise that, including people like former Senator David Norris, former Uachtarán Mary Robinson, Tony Walsh, and all of the campaigners for marriage equality in Ireland in 2015. In 2015, a group of friends and I got together to raise funds for marriage equality between Irish citizens in New York city. We thought it would be a small quiet affair, a humble table quiz, but crowds of people showed up. Companies sponsored prizes and we raised thousands of euro for marriage equality, doing our small bit from 3,000 miles away. I want to pay tribute to my friends Tara Copplestone, Simon McDonnell, Quentin Fottrell and Orla Tinsley for doing this work, among other campaigning, to make marriage equality a reality. I remember weeks later watching a TV screen in a pub in Manhattan in the early hours as the results rolled in from Dublin Castle, watching the cheering crowds as Ireland proudly declared the to the world that love is love and all you need is grá. It pains me immensely, as it does many others, to think of the generations of people who went before us and did not hear those roars of acceptance, those cheers of jubilation and victory over a law and system that had too long denied them. I think of the men, young and old, who had to hide a part of themselves from society, family or friends and found solace only in private places. The light they shared in those private places kept a light burning for so many that came later, even when it seemed like there was no light at all. It was their courage, fortitude and unapologetic actualisation that led the way for so many. We, as a State, are indebted to them and to the lives they led under a State that treated them so badly. As the Bill shockingly lays bare in its Schedules, Ireland has had a law against these acts on the books as far back as 1634, by edict of the Parliament at Westminster in England. At many times since then it was a capital offence, punishable by death. Most in this House know it was only decriminalised in 1993. Shockingly, military law still refers to the old 19th century criminal laws which state it is an offence in the Defence Forces under the Defence Act 2007, although in 1993 the then defence Minister, David Andrews, affirmed in the House that it would not be considered in breach of the regulations of the Defence Forces. Let me be very clear. I unequivocally condemn every administration - British, Free State and Republican - that enacted, defended, enforced and supported these heinous laws over a 359-year time period. To date, no apology for those in the Defence Forces who were stripped of medals, discharged, court-martialed or otherwise isolated or persecuted by their superiors has been forthcoming. No meaningful disregard has occurred. No restoration of good name, military status or military decoration has occurred. That must change with the Bill or other legislation and it must change as soon as possible. For those men whom these historical laws affected I want, for my part, to extend my sincere apologies that the State has not granted you and your families restitution for the normal act of being gay. It was beyond any human decency to have persecuted you in any way, not to mind in the profession of serving your country. A 2023 report from the Department of Justice specifically pointed out that should a person have been discharged with ignominy from the Defence Forces as a result of any of the above offences, subject to the eligibility criteria, the Department of Defence and Defence Forces consider whether any medals awarded that were withdrawn as a result of this discharge with ignominy may be returned to the affected person or their family if deceased. I strongly support that view as not just a symbol of restitution, but a recompense on behalf of the State for the individuals and their families who served the State so well yet were treated so poorly. As former defence Minister David Andrews said at the time of decriminalisation, the Defence Forces would modify regulations in light of the repeal of anti-gay laws. It stands to reason that any disregards under the Bill or other legislation would also apply to relevant offences under military legislation and rules of conduct. This Bill does that and it is critical that it does. It is of the utmost importance that these crimes of the State against those who served it are remedied. I would be grateful if the Minister and Department would confirm in the remarks at the end of the debate whether, through support of the Bill on Committee Stage or by other means, he and others in his Government will commit to such actions of restitution. I am conscious that behind each of these laws and convictions there are stories of real human beings living in the world, just being who they were born to be, being human and part of the natural order of things, yet they were forced to undergo horrendous treatment by the State in terms of criminalisation and punishment that no human should have to endure just for being human. It is in sombre recognition of those people and all of that painful history that I support the Bill and commend it to the House for urgent enactment by the Oireachtas.

Sentiment score: 0.17