Terrorists must repent and show remorse

But what has been largely missing has been the voices of the families whose loved ones were murdered by PIRA (and who were members of the Orange Order)

Innocent Victims United has been contacted by a number of locally based families who have expressed their frustrations at what has unfolded. The key questions which they would wish answered directly by Mr McGuinness are:

1. Does he accept that each of the 332 murders committed by republican terrorists upon members of the Orange Order were wrong and without justification? And will he/The republican movement issue an unequivocal apology?

2. Does he accept that in very many of the murders committed that the motivating factor was sectarianism?

3. Will he commit himself to working positively with the authorities in ensuring that justice, truth and accountability is served where such murders remain unresolved and will he provide leadership in encouraging others from within the republican movement to step up and deal with these issues?

Unlike many others, innocent victims and survivors of terrorism don’t swallow political choreography or grand gestures which are often described as; ‘historic,’ ‘ground-breaking’ etc.

Their focus has been and remains seeing justice, truth and accountability prevail.

Mr McGuinness and other senior members of the republican movement along with their counterparts in ‘loyalism’ could genuinely aide the healing process of our people and our land if they were convicted to do so.

IVU subscribes to a reconciliation process based on the ‘3 R’s’ – those who were involved in acts of terror and/or criminal violence must demonstrate genuine remorse for what they have done, they must then show repentance and thereafter commit to a life of restitution.

The difficulty in Northern Ireland is that there are many who believe that they can simply somersault these processes and many who should know better seem prepared to allow this to happen.

This means forever denying those directly or indirectly wronged – that is not true reconciliation.

IVU remains adamant that before ‘The Past’ can be properly addressed that there must be an accord put in place agreed by the UK and Republic of Ireland governments, accepted by the Stormont Executive and terror organisations that in the context of Northern Ireland there is not and was not ever justification for the use of terrorism and/or criminal violence in the advancement of or defence of a political objective.

This is the foundation stone needed to be put in place and there can be no further prevarication around this.

Kenny Donaldson, Innocent Victims United, Lisnaskea, South Fermanagh