I am very grateful to have been invited to address you today.
Last Friday night in Paris we saw yet again cold-blooded inhumanity at its worst.
Ordinary people going about their lives were subject to a savage attack by evil people who regard freedom as a threat and democracy as an enemy.
This is no war of competing values. Instead it is, very simply, what is right under attack from what is wrong.
Over the years a phrase was used to signify determination to defend a position against an enemy and I use it today in French: Ils ne paseront pas.
And I am sure you will join me in saying about those who support the type of barbarism we saw on Friday and all too often in recent years: They will not pass.
Our values are too strong; our commitment to freedom too deep.
Today we all stand in solidarity with the French people. And it is important to make it clear at this Conference that we stand shoulder to shoulder with the French police.
I feel particularly privileged to be at this Conference at this time so I can say to members of so many police forces: we support you unstintingly and pay the deepest tribute to you for what you do to keep us all safe.
The harsh reality behind last Friday's - and other - attacks is that, as far as these evil groups are concerned, all our citizens are on the front line. But it is members of police forces who day in day out have to confront terrorism often at great risk to themselves. Many have been called on to pay the ultimate price. I know at this Conference we will remember them all and those who they left behind.
When attacks like last Friday's take place there can be much talk of policing and security failures. I have no doubt that whatever lessons can be learned from what happened last Friday will be learned. But I think two points are important. We should not say anything which detracts in any way from those who were to blame - the evil people who carried out such appalling acts and those who support them. And we have to recognise too that to absolutely guarantee that such attacks could never take place in a democracy would involve taking extreme measures that would change the very nature of our societies. In my view, that would be handling the ultimate victory to those who seek to terrorise us.
That is not to suggest that we are helpless in the face of such attacks. The truth is that police and other agencies have, in fact, prevented countless numbers of attacks by international terrorists.
But it is of paramount importance that as the nature of threats evolve our responses evolve. And I recognise freely that we must resource the police properly to do what we ask of them.
I heard your president remark on radio yesterday that many police forces internationally have been subject to cutbacks because of economic difficulties. As many of you will be aware, Ireland was not immune to those difficulties. Expenditure in all areas had to be reduced and, while we did what we could to protect our own police force, reductions did take place. But now that our economic circumstances have improved greatly we are determined to make the investments that are necessary in An Garda Síochána. While I know that the representative associations and myself might not always see eye to eye on what exactly is necessary I can pledge this: we will take into account fully the extra demands that are being made on the Gardaí because of international terrorism.
I hope that I will be forgiven for singling out for praise the role which members of the Force have played in dealing with the problem of terrorism on this island down through the decades. Unfortunately because of the history of this island, dealing with terrorism is not a new challenge here. Some people seem to think that the sort of international terrorism we see now is different in kind from what we have experienced here. But we shouldn't forget we had terrorist organisations here - and still do - prepared to indulge in indiscriminate slaughter and who wished to overthrow our democracy.
Dealing with international terrorism of the kind we saw on Friday is characterised by one distinct factor: the perpetrators wish to or are prepared to die. That, of course, has implications for how individual incidents are dealt with by police but it does not alter one central fact that was certainly learned here in dealing with a severe terrorist threat. The key to preventing attacks is good intelligence.
I believe Ireland has been fortunate that our police and intelligence services have been the one organisation. And, indeed, An Garda Síochána play a significant role in immigration matters as well. So we have not had problems with the availability of relevant information that can arise where different organisations have different responsibilities in this area. Those sort of problems have the potential to be exacerbated where, as well as a host of agencies, you have a wide range of countries involved as well.
I know well that difficult issues arise in relation to intelligence sharing. Agencies, for example, fear that disclosure of some information might hamper their ability to get further information from valuable sources. But I believe, from my contacts with my European colleagues, that there is now a clear recognition of the importance of sharing information to the greatest possible extent. It is not possible to prevent every terrorist attack. But it would be a tragedy where information is available which could prevent an attack and this has not been shared with those who need it.
So I can assure you that, particularly at European level, Ireland will play its full part in supporting measures to encourage and facilitate the exchange of information. And I know that An Garda Síochána cooperate fully with its international partners in this regard.
Co-operation among EU Member States is an absolutely essential feature of international actions to effectively tackle cross-border serious crimes and terrorism. The EU has developed a range of important supports to the day-to-day work of police services in facing shared these challenges.
EUROPOL provides effective support to European police services in information exchange and analysis – its newly established Counter Terrorism Centre, for example, provides another opportunity for the EU to draw together the real depth of experience that exists at national level and to add value to their work. The Schengen Information System and Prum cooperation are other solid examples of the value of EU support and with the EU Policy Cycle for serious and organised crime, the Member States can further co-ordinate common priorities and practical, operational action.
A difficult balance has to be drawn between the rights of individuals and the powers which a state takes upon itself to counteract criminality and terrorism. And as I have said, we should not make changes that fundamentally alter the nature of our societies as a response to terrorist outrages. But I would ask people in considering any measures which emerge to deal with the threat from international terrorism to bear one thing in mind: there is no more fundamental human right than the right to life and states are obliged to take all reasonable measures to vindicate that right.
Your president also mentioned yesterday the great challenges being faced by police forces across Europe because of mass migration. Of course this can give rise to security issues and we have to take whatever steps we can to ensure that such migration is not abused by those who seek to do us harm. But I know you will all appreciate that it would be very dangerous to associate terrorist acts with particular communities. The reality is that it is terrorists who are to blame for terrorism, not the communities they come from. And we are facing a massive humanitarian catastrophe. I want to recognise the good work done by police forces in dealing with this in extremely challenging circumstances.
There are, of course, immediate security responses to terrorism which are necessary. But I know many of you will be conscious too of other work which police do which in the longer term reduces the chances of terrorist attacks. And that is in the area of ensuring that persons do not feel alienated in the communities in which they find themselves. In that context, I want to pay particular tribute to the work which the Gardaí are doing in reaching out to new communities in Ireland.
Some of you may know that the name of our police force is translated into English as guardians of the peace. That is a role which many of you are being called on to fulfil now in new, challenging ways. I know from our own police force that there is never a shortage of people to face new challenges and step up to the mark. I know you will all face up to the challenge of guarding the peace, whatever the dangers, however great the courage which is demanded. In that you will have the full support of all right thinking people.
I wish your Conference well.
ENDS