A young boy in Schull, west Cork, won an award for a simple story he wrote recently. "At the beginning, there were no bombs, no guns, no drugs. Let us begin again." So related Senator Denis O'Donovan towards the start of the oneday debate in the Upper House on the new emergency legislation. It was another day of woeful searching for words to describe events in Omagh and those behind the carnage. Mirroring the previous day in the Dail, Senators stood for one minute's silence, the stillness broken only by the whirring of the cooling fans.
In spite of the unusual political consensus, the Offences Against the State (Amendment) Bill did provoke some controversy and by midafternoon, in the ante-room of the gracious Seanad chamber, officials from the Department of Justice toiled away over the Bill in a haze of cigarette smoke. Mr Dermot Cole, assistant secretary of the Justice Department, slipped in and out of the chamber, conferring with his Minister in an effort to crack the conundrum that had arisen over the inclusion of the words "annual review" in the Bill.
"This is the sort of thing that happens when legislation is rushed through," remarked Ms Madeleine Taylor-Quinn sardonically. Her party, Fine Gael, understood from the Minister's Dail contribution on Wednesday that if sections of the Bill are renewed in June 2000, they should be subject to an annual review by the Oireachtas. Unfortunately, when the text of the amended Bill reached their eyes yesterday morning, it contained no mention of such a yearly review.
So, the gurus from Mr O'Donoghue's Department rallied to see what could be done. If the Minister were to amend the Bill there and then, the Dail would have to be recalled to accept the change and the measures could not be signed into law last night as planned.
Alternatively, he could introduce a simple amendment to the legislation when the Dail resumes later this month. Respite came after much consultation between officials and Fine Gael's leader of the House, Senator Maurice Manning. There was a collective sigh of relief when, just before 5.30 p.m., Mr O'Donoghue - who had sat stoically through the debate for the previous 5 1/2 hours - confirmed that the forthcoming Criminal Justice Bill would be amended to include an annual review. As on the previous day in the Lower House, the Taoiseach again told those responsible for the August 15th massacre that if they continued to choose to ignore the will of the people of Ireland and remained on the path of violence, "be in no doubt that this Government will crush you."
Distaste for the emergency proposals was expressed by all sides. The majority of senators declared them draconian, a necessary evil to counter the `Real IRA', but many stressed the imperative of providing video recording during garda questioning and vigilance in protecting against abuses of civil liberties.
For Mr Shane Ross, the legislation provided "the most amazing warning" to the `Real IRA'. None of them would be sleeping in their beds last night. Internment would have avoided that. Describing civil liberties as the bedrock of democracy, Senator Ross said there were times when there must be an infringements of these rights. It would have been "more honest, appropriate and effective" if the Government had introduced internment.
Senator Brendan Ryan voiced serious reservations at the manner in which this Bill would, under two sections, require an accused to prove his or her innocence. It was utterly contrary to the concept of being innocent until proven guilty. In parts, the Bill was "incredibly sloppily drafted and ambiguous". Could anybody tell him how this law would apply surgically to the `Real IRA'. It only took one "malicious senior garda" to begin arresting members of the Provisional IRA and the peace process could unravel, Senator Ryan said.
As the young boy in Schull dreamed his dream, the senators talked sombrely into the night.