DUP MLA: Teebane relatives, like other victims, scrapped a memorial this year due to Covid
Every day across Northern Ireland there are families who mark the anniversary of a loved one taken from them through the barbaric murders of the Troubles.
For my family it is the 17th January and the anniversary of the Teebane massacre where eight men were murdered (including my brother-in-law Nigel McKee) and six others injured by the Provisional IRA as they travelled home from work.
Each year since then the families have gathered on that roadside to hold a simple service of remembrance.
That service brings fellowship and comfort to the families, but this year it did not take place because of the wish to comply with Covid-19 regulations and prevent spread of that virus.
Just a few weeks after Teebane, loyalist gunmen murdered five men in Sean Graham’s bookmakers shop on the Ormeau Road. The desire to mark that anniversary is absolutely understandable. Whilst a decision was taken not to hold a formal commemoration at Teebane crossroads this year, it is reported that up to 40 people gathered on the Ormeau Road last Friday.
There is no ambiguity around the current Covid regulations. Those are clear that you may not organise, operate or take part in an outdoor gathering which consists of more than six people.
The regulations do not make a distinction based upon who may be gathering or how justified their cause may be. The law applies equally to everyone and there should be no hierarchy within it.
Over the past year, countless families have been forced to forego the comfort which can come from gathering together in remembrance.
They could cite their individual circumstances which means the pain is often as raw now as it was decades ago. In each of those cases however the choice was made to follow the guidance and regulations.
The knowledge that others faced the same difficulties does not bring comfort, but does at least bring a sense of equality.
We are often told there can be no hierarchy of victims in Northern Ireland. Unfortunately those who gathered on the Ormeau Road last Friday made such a differentiation.
The fact they were driven by an understandable human emotion does not mean we can support that decision to knowingly step outside the law and potentially spread a lethal virus in the process.
• Trevor Clarke is DUP MLA for South Antrim
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