Sturgeon and Salmond damned by their silence on IRA remarks

What a depressing new phase in the retrospective rewriting of history to justify the IRA.
Morning ViewMorning View
Morning View

As Martin McGuinness is nominated for a peace prize, a Scottish National Party member of the Assembly in Edinburgh implies that IRA killers of three Scottish soldiers are “freedom fighters”.

John Mason MSP said on Twitter that he was “not taking sides” on the murders of the three young Scots in 1971.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The murders were notable for their savagery, because the men were lured to their deaths on the pretext that they would meet girls at a party.

While such murders were new ground for the IRA, they were followed in the ensuing decades by thousands of acts of republican brutality.

Mr Mason has since tried to backtrack on the comments. But he is a little known figure outside his Scottish constituency.

We have been trying to get comment from Scotland’s first minister, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, and from her predecessor Alex Salmond.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

We have given them more than 48 hours to comment but they have nothing to say.

The SNP has never so much as hinted at violence in its long campaign for independence, an admirable distinction between them and hardcore republicans.

Ms Sturgeon and Mr Salmond stand damned by their silence on Mr Mason’s disgraceful comments.

Meanwhile, this newspaper is supporting a private action against the IRA murderers of the Scottish soldiers. Please donate, and see page 6 of the print edition or the link below for details.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

James Brokenshire has seemed to backtrack on his comments about the scandalous legacy imbalance in Northern Ireland. The imbalance is there for all to see: a complete failure to bring premeditated IRA murderers to justice as elderly soldiers face trial for fleeting decisions.

If the state is failing in its duty to do this, the lawyers like McCue and Partners need our full support.

We hope and trust there will be many more such cases but let’s help to get this first one going.