Lord Empey: The UK has failed to defend its Troubles record of combating terrorism in Northern Ireland

George Orwell 1984

Today I shall be giving evidence to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee as part of their consultation process entitled — ‘Addressing the Legacy of Northern Ireland’s past: The UK Government’s New Proposals’.

It is very clear that the legacy of the Troubles has now become the new theatre of conflict and that a very concerted effort is being made to rewrite the history of the Troubles and in the process place the blame at the feet of the state, the police and the army and whitewash the role and crimes of terrorists, particularly the IRA.

A key point is that the Ulster Unionist Party does not — and indeed never did — support the Stormont House Agreement’s Legacy arrangements, particularly the Historical Investigations Unit (HIU) (and which incidentally was the DUP’s idea), which is in effect an auxiliary police force.

To listen to many commentators and other political parties you would be forgiven for thinking that the Stormont House Agreement (SHA) legacy arrangements were the answer to all our problems and enjoyed total support across the board.

That is most emphatically not the case.

The reality is that the SHA legacy arrangements are fundamentally flawed not least with regard to the HIU which would be a parallel police force and set up to focus mainly on the activities of former police officers and soldiers and not on the terrorists.

We could see the inevitable biased results which would be produced by an investigatory process that would trawl through UK state archives to build cases for the prosecution of former soldiers and RUC officers, whilst of course being unable to access any equivalent records of the terrorist groups responsible for 90% of Troubles related deaths.

In particular we warned of the iniquity of the charge of ‘non-criminal police misconduct’ and under which even deceased RUC officers, would have their reputations destroyed even though no criminal offence has been committed.

We also highlighted the injustice inherent in the fact that the HIU would only investigate some deaths and the unfairness in the way in which it would totally ignore the tens of thousands of people who were injured, many very seriously.

The sad fact is that we have arrived in the current position in no small part because successive British governments have never sought to defend themselves and their actions in Northern Ireland with any conviction.

Rather, successive administrations have appeared almost embarrassed at the role played by the UK in defending its territorial integrity, its sovereignty and its citizens, and in defeating a sustained and brutal terrorist campaign.

This has emboldened those who wish to rewrite the history of the Troubles and suit the republican narrative and the IRA’s false claim of a just war.

There has also been a complete failure to take a proper account of context and the facts.

Ninety per cent of deaths were terrorist murders — 60% by republicans, 30% by so-called loyalists — and every single one of these was illegal.

The police and army were responsible for 10% of deaths and the reality is that the troops and police showed incredible restraint and discipline over a thirty-year period whilst the terrorists murdered and maimed thousands of innocent people.

The adherence to the rule of law shown by the police and army is very evident in the number of IRA terrorists who survived the Troubles.

Many senior figures in the republican movement, some of them in Sinn Fein today, would not be alive had they really been facing an army and police force that was permitted to operate beyond the rule of law.

Unlike their victims, IRA terrorists were arrested, tried, jailed and released.

It must also be remembered that 21st century policing techniques weren’t available or possible in 1972 in much of Northern Ireland, where the main task was to investigate yesterday’s murders, try to prevent any happening today, and then hope to stay alive yourself so you could see tomorrow. And do it all over again.

Finally, there needs to be a serious and concerted effort to get the Republic of Ireland to address the role it played as a safe haven for the IRA, a store house for weaponry and a base from which to launch numerous attacks across the border into Northern Ireland to murder and main UK citizens.

To this day Dublin acts as if the Troubles were nothing to do with them, yet they have no difficulty in making demands of London.

London needs to ask very serious questions of Dublin in terms of legacy and to stand up for the rights of UK citizens.

• Lord Empey is a former Ulster Unionist Party leader

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