Shankill bomb relative Gary Murray launches legal proceedings against NIHRC over Alyson Kilpatrick's RUC comments
A relative of an IRA murder victim has commenced legal action against the head of a human rights quango over comments she made questioning the role of former RUC officers in legacy investigations – claiming she acted outside her powers.
Gary Murray, whose sister Leanne, 13, was one of nine innocent people killed when republicans bombed a fish shop on the Shankill Road in 1993, argues that the chief commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) has misled the public on the law.
Alyson Kilpatrick said that the position of a top investigator at the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) was “untenable” because of his policing past.
However, Mr Murray’s representative Jamie Bryson said that a determination of the UK Supreme Court means any assertions that former RUC officers, or ICRIR boss Sir Declan Morgan, lack independence “are legally without merit”.
The NIHRC said it won’t comment on “individual matters” and it will issue an assessment report on legacy, which will further outline the commission’s position, in September. It is currently involved in legal proceedings on legacy.
The human rights watchdog, which is a public body, has not commented on Ms Kilpatrick’s comments to the Irish News in July – despite repeated questions from the News Letter and unionist politicians.
Mr Bryson told the News Letter that the “settled law of the United Kingdom is that any assertions that former RUC officers, or Sir Declan Morgan lack independence are legally without merit”. He questioned why the chief commissioner is “making contrary public pronouncements” on the matter.
“The commission is a corporate body that acts through its commissioners. The chief commissioner has repeatedly gone on solo runs, using her public office to make inflammatory political comments. Mr Murray supports the ICRIR, and has challenged the NIRHC on the basis that the public statements being issued by the chief commissioner are beyond the lawful limits of her public office. It is no function of the NIHRC to engage in political debate, much less to undertake the role of partisan campaigning organisation,” he said.
l Morning View, page 10