UUP presses for answers on Tony Blair government admission of turning 'blind eye' to IRA crime to Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness
The UUP has called for a probe into Tony Blair's government after declassified files revealed it admitted to Sinn Féin that it deliberately “turned a blind eye” to IRA criminality and murders.
Secretary of state John Reid explicitly told Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness that a blind eye had been turned - despite repeated denials from other figures in the Blair government that it knowingly tolerated serious criminality.
The information came from records of a dinner in Hillsborough Castle on October 9, 2001, found in declassified files at the National Archives in Kew. Reid had met with Adams and McGuinness, and Adams’ aide Richard McAuley.
In the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks in New York, the IRA was under intense pressure to start decommissioning.
Mr Reid said that the UK and Irish governments and Sinn Féin had effectively been colluding to cover up serious IRA crimes.
He told them that the IRA “could not expect HMG [Her Majesty’s Government] and the UUP to say this publicly, but in practice we could seek to shift the focus away from decommissioning".
The secretary of state added: “The quid pro quo was that other paramilitary activities - smuggling, beatings, robberies and murders - would come under closer scrutiny. We had turned a blind eye to these activities in the belief that the IRA was involved in a process of transition."
UUP justice spokesman Doug Beattie called on secretary of state Hilary Benn to take action.
“From the government supplied letters of comfort, which have delayed and denied justice, to turning a blind eye to criminality up to murder it is clear that the UK government have questions to answer,” he said. “These questions must be asked and answers must be given."
The file, which was uncovered by the Belfast Telegraph, shows that in response to the pressure from Mr Reid at the dinner, Adams was "feigning exasperation" and claimed there was no evidence of IRA involvement in smuggling.
The Sinn Fein president said "we needed to ‘get real’ about what was happening in Northern Ireland" and challenged Mr Reid as to whether they were involved in a "process" or not.
Mr Beattie insisted that Mr Benn must take action in the wake of the revelations.
“Turning a blind eye to criminality, robbery, smuggling and overseas ventures aimed at securing funding from the drugs trade for the Provisional IRA are just a few of the revelations contained in these newly released papers," he said.
"Involvement in murder, directly and indirectly is also claimed in the same papers as well as retaining a military capability linked to Sinn Fein who were playing the 'peace process' card at the time. Looking at how the Provisional IRA, and their political wing, operated this is not surprising.
"What is surprising is that the UK Government and the Irish Government knew this was ongoing and yet they turned a blind eye.”
He has long called for an investigation into terrorist leaders and political republican leaders, he said.
"That call also goes for senior political figures in the UK Government, including then Prime Minister Tony Blair."
He added: “It is time the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland took action in regards to what his party did when they were in government in the years leading up to and after the Belfast Agreement.”
DUP MLA Diane Forsythe also called for an investigation. She said the declassified files revealed that "the pain of victims was a price Tony Blair’s administration was willing to pay to keep the peace process on track.”
She added: "I have written to the Secretary of State and the Chief Constable asking that an investigation is opened. Cabinet Ministers from that time must outline which IRA crimes were swept under the carpet. We need to see an immediate review of how such decisions were made, and who signed off on them."