Trevor Ringland challenges Independent Commission for Reconciliation & Information Recovery (ICRIR) to deliver truth and apology for IRA murder of father-of-three
Lawyer Trevor Ringland has challenged Northern Ireland's new legacy body to interview the suspects in a 1974 IRA murder - and to ask them for an unconditional apology.
Mr Ringland is asking the Independent Commission for Reconciliation & Information Recovery (ICRIR) to advise who was behind the murder of James Speers from Desertmartin, and whether a prosecution is viable.
The 46-year-old father of three was working in his car repair business when he was shot in the head by an IRA gang in November 1976.
Living just across the road, his distraught family rushed out to see the part-time UDR member taking his last breaths.
Mr Ringland, a former UUP politician and international rugby player, told the News Letter: “The four questions we are asking go to the very heart of the potential that the ICRIR has to deliver for the vast majority of the victims of the Troubles. The Speer family look forward to engaging with the ICRIR in relation to their father's brutal murder.”
He added: “There are over 1,400 unsolved Troubles murders and even many of those that are solved are only partially so, and the ICRIR, with the ambition that it has to deliver not only truth, but also justice where there is evidence, is something that those families seek those outcomes from. They should engage with it, and hopefully that potential will be realised.
“I was told years ago by the Historical Enquiries Team that there were some 1,400 outstanding murders for which nobody had been held accountable. And I believe that includes over 700 members of the security forces.”
In his letter to the ICRIR, Mr Ringland said Mr Speers' two daughters had asked him to pose four questions to the ICRIR:
l Confirmation that the ICRIR have had access to all information in relation to the murder of Joseph James Speer and the related activities of republican paramilitaries in Co Londonderry and Tyrone in the mid- 1970s sufficient to determine whether there is evidence to sustain a criminal prosecution of those responsible for their father’s murder;
l If a criminal prosecution is not deemed to be viable, to ascertain the full facts regarding the murder including who was involved in the planning and carrying out of Mr Speer’s murder;
l To interview those responsible and ascertain if they will admit responsibility and unconditionally apologise directly to Mr Speer’s children;
l If such a resolution is deemed unacceptable to those responsible the family would ask that the chief commissioner issue a full report on the matter determining who was responsible for the planning and carrying out of the murder Joseph James Speer.
A spokesperson for the ICRIR responded that it does not comment on individual cases.
It said: “We acknowledge receipt of the letter from Macaulay and Ritchie Solicitors ... Our Case Support team will be in touch with the family through their legal representative. We respect the family’s privacy and do not comment on individual cases.”
In 2017 the Speer family launched civil action against a convicted IRA member and named politician in connection with the killing. The politician denied any involvement.