Ulster Unionists say recent decisions by UK government and courts are helping the IRA rewrite history
Former members of the security forces and their families must be treated with fairness and justice after the government “opened pandora’s box” on legacy.
Ulster Unionists at Westminster say victims have been “shabbily treated and forgotten” – amid a continuous flow of decisions by the government and others which has “produced a conveyor belt of benefit to republican terrorists and sympathisers”.
The party is calling for a review of “paltry” compensation, and inquiries into IRA atrocities and the role of the Irish state in forming and supporting the terrorist organisation.
South Antrim MP Robin Swann and Lords Empey, Rogan and Elliott penned a joint statement for the News Letter in which they accuse republicans and their sympathisers of pursuing a relentless campaign against the state and the security forces in order to attempt a rewriting of history.
“Terrorists were responsible for 90% of Troubles killings and 100% of Troubles bombings, with the IRA head and shoulders above others at 60%. For a long time, republicans have been trying to rewrite history. Recent actions by the government and some court decisions are helping them along the way.
“Those who stepped forward in the 1970s 1980s and 1990s to join the security forces to prevent total anarchy, have been taken for granted,” they said.
The UUP parliamentarians say “we cannot sit by and let this happen”.
“Nobody had to become a terrorist – unlike Michelle O’Neill we know there were alternatives. People made a conscious decision to go out and murder their fellow citizens, whether nationalist or unionist. Those individuals made that choice.
“As a line has not been drawn under our Troubles, unionists must ensure that those who volunteered to defend the state and democratic values are not ridden over roughshod by well-nourished lawyers who make their fortune out of other people’s misery.
“We know that successive governments, with only a few exceptions within them, have and continue to appease the republican movement and their apologists whether here, Dublin or around the world. It’s fair to say that people have had enough,” they said.
They also criticise a series of recent developments on Troubles-era cases.
“We note that the Ministry of Defence has in the last five years paid out over £4.6m to relatives of people killed by the security forces, this representing just 20 cases. A staggering further 107 cases are currently outstanding. While each case will be different, at an average settlement of £234,000 each, one can easily see where that is going.
“Republicans are demanding more inquiries into various incidents and lawfare is beginning to crank up following the government’s recent decisions.
“Speculation is mounting that people like Gerry Adams could be eligible for payouts because their detention in the 1970s was signed off by the wrong official! Sums in excess of £100,000 have been mentioned. Just imagine that!
“Then we have had the extraordinary decision in the Clonoe case. Heavily armed terrorists, intent on large scale murder and destruction, are deemed to have been unlawfully killed by the Army!
“Now republicans want to dismantle the ICRIR led by Sir Declan Morgan who is looking into Troubles-related cases. The world is truly upside down.”
They propose four points which they argue are necessary if there is to be “any equality in treatment” for those killed and injured by republicans.
Firstly, that the government sets up a “review of the paltry compensation paid to those families of members of the security forces murdered and injured in the early days of the Troubles compared to sums paid out by Ministry of Defence and other legal actions by republicans since”.
Secondly, inquiries into “the array of horrible atrocities committed by the Provisional IRA such as Enniskillen, Teebane, La Mon, Bloody Friday, Narrow Water and many others”.
Thirdly, that the Irish government immediately withdraws its “hypocritical case taken against the UK government over the legacy act as it has been operating an amnesty for Provisional IRA terrorists since 1998”.
Fourthly, an inquiry into the formation of the Provisional IRA: the role of the Irish state, the use of Irish army bases for training and the involvement of senior Irish Cabinet ministers in enabling the IRA to attack people with impunity in Northern Ireland.