Northern Ireland Troubles legacy: Victims campaigner Kenny Donaldson of SEFF challenges Irish government on why it refused 30 invitations to meet over ten years

Kenny Donaldson, Director of Services at the Lisnaskea based South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF), was speaking after Irish foreign minister Micheal Martin criticised Sinn Fein for failing to meet victims of IRA terrorism.

Mr Martin said on Thursday that victims had told him they had repeatedly requested meetings with Sinn Fein over what had happened to their loved ones at the hands of the IRA, but had received no response.

He said: “I met with victims last week in Armagh, I met with Wave [a victims’ group], I was very struck by how some victims sought meetings with Sinn Fein in respect of what happened to their loved ones, and those meetings were not facilitated.”

But the challenge prompted victims campaigner Kenny Donaldson to ask the Irish government to check its own track record.

Mr Donaldson said: "Never has a Taoiseach, Foreign or Justice Minister come along to engage with victims/survivors attached to our organisation in our own backyard, despite 25 to 30 invitations down the years to all sorts of events over the past ten years."

SEFF has six offices in Northern Ireland, with staff in the Republic of Ireland and GB. It also provides leadership for the Innocent Victims United (IVU) network, which partners with 25 other NI groups and has 13,500 members.

Despite political efforts to portray SEFF in a particular way, he said, it does want constructive engagement with the Irish government.

"But are the Irish Government and its ministers finally prepared to show some courage and get to the point of plain speaking?" he asked. "The days of cruising in and out for photo opportunities must be consigned to the past".

Over the years they have had “decent levels of engagement” with officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs, he said, but letters to the Irish Department of Justice are “not even acknowledged”.

SEFF has had four brief meetings with Irish ministers since 2012 he said, but they were all in ministerial offices, and none of them were "engagement sessions".

The Irish Departments of the Taoiseach, Justice and Foreign Affairs were all invited to comment.