'IRA lawyers' comment blasted as 'shameful' by NI First Minister
A reference to “IRA lawyers” has been blasted by Northern Ireland’s First Minister as “shameful”.
Michelle O’Neill was speaking after Conservative Party MP Sir David Davis used the phrase during a contribution to the debate in the House of Commons on the Government’s Legacy Bill.
While talking about the prosecution of British Army veterans for incidents during the Troubles, Sir David referred to “IRA lawyers” being “more interested in drama than justice”.
He also told MPs that he “would rather see the dispassionate actions of the [Legacy] commission than the activities of IRA lawyers in the courts”.
The Law Society of Northern Ireland has voiced “deep concern” at “this characterisation of legal professionals in the House of Commons”.
They recalled remarks made in January 1989 by then junior minister Douglas Hogg that some solicitors in Northern Ireland were “unduly sympathetic to the cause of the IRA”.
This came three weeks before the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane, who was known for representing IRA hunger strikers in the 1980s during cases against the British government. His death is currently being probed in a public inquiry.
Mr Finucane’s son John, who is Sinn Féin MP for North Belfast, has written an open letter to Sir David calling on him to apologise to his family after his “contemptible” reference to “IRA lawyers”.
He recalled being eight years old when he saw his father being shot dead in their family home.
“I grew up without my father,” he states.
“I became a solicitor following in his footsteps because I believed, as he did, in the rule of law, in the right of every person to legal representation, in the right of victims to challenge the powerful, including the state itself,” he wrote.
“And that is what makes your words so contemptible.
“Would you dare speak about English solicitors in this way?
“Or do you believe Irish lawyers deserve less protection, less respect and fewer rights when they dare to challenge the British state.
“The lawyers you seek to discredit are doing precisely what you once claimed to defend; using the law to hold power to account.
“They represent families who have endured murder, collusion, cover-ups and decades of obstruction.
“We know where this language can lead. My family knows. Rosemary Nelson’s family knows.”
A solicitor who represented nationalist and republican clients in several high-profile cases, Mrs Nelson was killed by a car bomb in 1999. A loyalist paramilitary group subsequently claimed responsibility.
Speaking in Belfast on Wednesday, Ms O’Neill referred to the murders of Mr Finucane and Mrs Nelson as she termed the comments made by Sir David “absolutely shameful”
Ms O’Neill told media: “You only have to look at the history of this place. There was a human rights lawyer Rosemary Nelson, who stood up for the rights of the people on the Garvaghy Road; it’s that type of language and rhetoric which led to her being killed.
“It is totally disgraceful and I welcome the fact that lots of people across the legal profession are coming out very strongly today.
“His comments are absolutely shameful and reprehensible.”