Politicians are not being honest on the issue of amnesties and ‘the past’

Political parties here in Stormont are simply not being honest with you over this issue of ‘the past’ (still the present for so many)

Here is the reality,

The Good Friday Agreement gave an amnesty to many. Hundreds released from prison, hundreds receiving letters of pardon since, IRA killers and terrorists in government and people free elsewhere throughout society who carried out unspeakable things.

Victims have never had proper justice delivered to them for and never will.

So people who now claim they don’t like this, are they saying they don’t support the agreement they helped create and have stood over for so long?

Do they want all early released prisoners returned to prison to complete their sentence, all letters of pardon ripped up? If so then let’s hear them say it, if they won’t then they are misleading people on this issue.

I believe it was morally wrong for anyone to have an amnesty back in 1998 and I believe the same now.

The issue is hundreds already have an amnesty and that was either supported or tolerated by the Northern Ireland political parties for a long time, so what do we do?

Allow the current process to continue knowing it’ll be largely veterans and those not in the political process that will be hounded while others like Sinn Fein and the IRA sit comfortable in government or with their letters of amnesty?

Gary Hynds, Conservative & Unionist Party, Lisburn

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