Children of murdered RUC officers meet SoS as Lambeth talks fallout continues

A son and a daughter of two RUC officers murdered by the IRA have told Secretary of State that the “illegitimacy of violence” should be acknowledged by participants in any new legacy talks process.
By Mark Rainey
Published 11th Dec 2020, 06:45 BST
L-R Abigail Graham, Kenny Donaldson of SEFF, Pete Murtagh of SEFF, Louie Johnston and NI Secretary Brandon LewisL-R Abigail Graham, Kenny Donaldson of SEFF, Pete Murtagh of SEFF, Louie Johnston and NI Secretary Brandon Lewis
L-R Abigail Graham, Kenny Donaldson of SEFF, Pete Murtagh of SEFF, Louie Johnston and NI Secretary Brandon Lewis

On the day a scheduled meeting on the controversial Lambeth Palace forum was postponed, a delegation from the South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF) met on Thursday with Brandon Lewis to stress their opposition to the legacy mechanisms contained in the Stormont House Agreement (SHA).

The SEFF representatives included Abigail Graham and Louie Johnston, whose RUC fathers John Graham and David Johnston were shot dead in Lurgan in 1997, SEFF’s director of services Kenny Donaldson and advocacy manager Pete Murtagh also attended.

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The NIO has been represented at the Lambeth Palace talks – hosted by the Archbishop of Canterbury – which have been described at involving only stakeholders supportive of the SHA legacy proposals.

Following Thursday’s meeting, Mr Donaldson said: “We held an extremely robust exchange of views in which we reiterated to him that the Stormont House ‘Agreement’ is past tense – it did not and does not command confidence across the community and that we now must focus on what is possible from this point forward.

“The LIB [Legacy Investigations Branch of PSNI] can and should be resourced with additional governance checks and protocols and empowered to fulfil the role of investigating and reviewing crime. The PSNI should not abdicate its responsibilities in this regard.

“And we’re realistic that for those who allege wrongdoing by the State, such cases could be dealt with by an external Force to ensure confidence”.

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Mr Donaldson said it was also put to Mr Lewis that there should be “maximum possible disclosure” from both the UK and Republic of Ireland states.

“The days of the Irish Government lecturing without stepping up the plate themselves cannot persist,” he said.

The Lambeth Palace talks included, among others, representatives from the Irish Government, academia, Operation Kenova head Jon Boutcher, Sinn Fein strategist Sean Murray and loyalist Winston Irvine.

Mr Donaldson went on to say that the over-arching principle of yesterday’s discussions was that the two communities, on the island of Ireland and in GB, should not be viewed as unionist and nationalist, but rather broken down by a values system – those “who believe in the sanctity of human life, present and past, and those who do not.”

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Announcing the postponement of the Lambeth Palace talks, organisers Rev Harold Good and Jim Roddy said they had “heard the criticism we should have done more to include a broader range of victims’ voices” in the conversation.

“We have been genuinely humbled and moved by the words of support and encouragement that we should continue with this work from many in civil society, including victims. We have also been... dismayed by some of the misinformation and misrepresentation of our meeting in Lambeth Palace,” their statement added.

READ: Lambeth Palace legacy talks postponed due to victims’ concerns

READ: Troubles victims angered by Lambeth Palace ‘secret’ talks on legacy issues

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