Anger over McGuinness 'quit' call
A SENIOR unionist has called Martin McGuinness to come clean on his own past, after his call for Cardinal Sean Brady to quit over the child abuse contoversy.
DUP MP Gregory Campbell hit out after the Deputy First Minister said
the cleric should "consider his position" over an alleged lack of transparency surrounding his role in the Brendan Smyth saga.
Describing the minister's criticism of Cardinal Sean Brady as "24-carat
brazen audacity", the East Londonderry MP said: "There is a very thin line between parody and the real picture in Northern Ireland.
"Setting aside the sensitivity of the Roman Catholic Church's situation, the steadfast refusal by the one-time terrorist and latter-day democrat Martin McGuinness in consistently refusing to offer similar reflection on his position beggars belief.
"Many will look at this and believe that of all the 24-carat brazen
audacity statements, this 'letter from America' by the Deputy First
Minister will be hard to beat."
The Irish Catholic primate has acknowledged being present at meetings when two alleged victims of Father Brendan Smyth signed what the Church describes as a 'confidentiality oath'.
Smyth was believed to have abused at least 20 children over a 40-year
period and was convicted in courts on both sides of the border for a
catalogue of offences.
The latest abuse scandal centres on complaints by two teenagers which
were investigated by Mr Brady in his capacity as secretary to the
Bishop of Kilmore in 1975.
Mr Campbell said: "I completely support full and comprehensive investigations, but when I heard the Deputy First Ministers's
comments I thought of the thousands of innocent IRA victims who also have never received justice or even the families of 'the disappeared' who don't even know the burial place of their loved ones."
The News Letter's political correspondent Sam McBride asked First Minister Peter Robinson in the United States whether Sinn Fein was on dangerous ground calling for Cardinal Brady to consider his position because of what happened in the 1970s.
The DUP leader said: "I think that it's important that elected representatives speak out on matters of concern and the Deputy
First Minister did...I have no objection to him doing so but all of us are subject to the same kind of treatment."
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Tuesday 14 February 2012
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