The Republic was a safe base for terrorists so it should pay victims’ pensions too

There is no denying the fact that the cowardly terrorists involved set forth on their killing spree from Northern Ireland, a United Kingdom jurisdiction, so it is right and proper that the UK government should do the honourable thing and pay pension.

Equally, as most of those who bombed and murdered UK, Australian, German and Dutch citizens used the Republic of Ireland (RoI) as their ‘safe base’ to sally forth from and store their guns and explosives, it is only right and proper that the RoI should fund the pensions for the victims of PSF/PIRA terrorism.

It seems to me that the ongoing freedom of ‘Father Ryan’ who openly boasted of his activities is an example that fuels the perception that many people have of the Republic as such as safe base, as are the cases of Owen Carron, Dermot Finucane and the Colombia Three.

Recently the arch terrorist, Kevin McKenna, Chief of Staff of PIRA and ‘Blood Brother’ of McGuinness died in the Monaghan where he had sheltered for all of his terrorist life.

He was given the equivalent of a PSF/PIRA state funeral and which those who talk of ‘Respect, Honesty and Integrity’ praised him to the roof tops.

Security experts believe McKenna was responsible for 1,000 deaths and the maiming of many more, yet the RoI allowed him the freedom of movement to carry out his killing, including the ethnic cleansing along the border.

It is time that the UK government and the NIO stood up to the ROI and took them to task for their part in allowing PSF/PIRA to conduct its 30 year killing spree both at home and abroad.

Every day we are inundated with further claims of security forces collusion, yet the sheltering of Father Ryan alone could be seen as proof of RoI state collusion on a grand scale.

The victims of the 180 PSF/PIRA bombs linked to Farther Patrick Ryan should also sue the RoI government in Europe for compensation.

Tom Nash, Lisburn