Eames pays tribute to work of security forces
IN his final comment as co-chairman of the Consultative Group on The Past, Lord Eames has paid tribute to the courageous work of the security forces.
The former Church of Ireland primate, who has come in for stinging criticism from many unionists and Troubles victims for recommending that terrorists' families be paid money, said that the bravery of the police and Army would never be forgotten.
In a speech at the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly in Donegal, Lord Eames said: "Future generations will look back to the conflict in Northern Ireland and will read of fear and uncertainty.
"They will read of division and murder. They will read of great bravery and courage of those who kept the light of hope alive.
"They will read of victims and of innocent people who carried scars of mind and body for the rest of their lives.
"But they will also read of the bravery of those who sought to protect our society from terrorism and who paid a huge price, the ordinary ranks of the RUC, UDR, and later the PSNI and RIR.
"Men and women who returned from duty to live with their families in homes which were always at risk.
"Men and women who faced murder at their work and in their homes. Many of them still carry physical and mental scars of those days. As many of them asked us – does society really appreciate our sacrifice?"
The former Archbishop of Armagh said that he had "stood beside too many graves of those murdered" to forget them.
The Eames-Bradley report has provoked a furious backlash from unionists and even Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has described it as "deeply flawed".
But Lord Eames said that there was an even greater resolve forged over recent weeks to never see a return to the darkness of the Troubles.
"The one consensus we met on all sides was the expression that 'it must never happen again'," he said.
"That resolve is even more clear today than when our report was presented.
"Our report looked at a time when united condemnation of murder and violence did not exist. It was a time when our society was deeply divided and suspicious.
"It was a time when terrorism stalked our society. It was a time when any suggestion of shared responsibility in government was impossible.
"Then came the ceasefires and the Belfast Agreement and the course of history changed.
"The public reaction to the tragic murders in Craigavon and Antrim has moved society one step further."
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Monday 28 May 2012
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