Aontú Publishes Bill to Investigate British State Collusion
Today Aontú published the Commission of Investigation (Collusion by British State Forces ) Bill 2022, which would institute an investigation into the extent and destruction of British collusion in Ireland, north and south.
An Teachta Tóibín: “For too long the Irish people from across the 32 counties have been denied the truth of British collusion. Family members, loved ones, men, women and children have been murdered due to British State collusion.
Massacres were perpetrated. Bombings were carried out including in Dublin and Monaghan which was the largest loss of life of the troubles. Civil rights leaders and human rights activists were assassinated. And many many Catholics and Nationalists were murdered at random to instil as much fear into that community as possible”.
“Despite the death toll and the mounting evidence of British State Collusion, incredibly, there has not been a comprehensive investigation into what happened and how far up the chain of command British collusion goes. Victims and survivors are entitled to know who did what, and who should be held responsible. This Aontú’s Bill if passed would institute an investigation to find the answers to these questions. I call on all parties and the government to immediately support the Bill’s swift passage so the search for truth may begin without delay.”
Aontú Deputy Leader, Cllr Denise Mullen: “The need for an All-Ireland inquiry into the death toll of British collusion cannot be denied any longer. County by county, report after report, the full extent of British state-sponsored violence is becoming known. In the ‘Murder Triangle’ between Armagh and Tyrone, a British government-sponsored death squad made up of Loyalist terrorists, members of the British Military in Ireland and RUC officers, murdered over 120 innocents across the North of Ireland. The Miami Showband Massacre, the sectarian murders of the Reavey and O’Dowd families, the Dublin and Monaghan bombs, the murder of my father.
In the wake of the Dublin & Monaghan bombings, the Barron Report stated RUC officers and UDR soldiers were involved in bombings, but the British government blocked the Inquiry’s investigation into the role of British collusion. Two public inquiries in Britain concluded that British security officials were involved in the murder of Pat Finucane. A previous Police Ombudsman’s report earlier this year, implicated the British State in 19 murders across Antrim, Derry, Tyrone and Donegal between 1993 and 1998. The evidence mounts and mounts. It is now time for a comprehensive investigation into the death toll of British collusion on our island.”
An Teachta Tóibín
Many of the families that have been effected are reaching older age. Time is running out for many to get to the truth. There is an urgency to this. This Aontú Bill would empower the Commission of Investigation to compel witnesses in the south of Ireland. It would have the power take evidence from people outside of the state also. It would have the power to consider information collected from other published state investigations from outside the southern Irish state. This evidence could help fill in key elements of the bigger collusion picture.
If citizens or state organisations from outside of the state resist in assisting with the Commission of Investigation, political and diplomatic influence could be brought to bear to encourage participation. We in Aontú seek that a similar Bill would be enacted in Stormont which would greatly strengthen the ability for evidence from witnesses to be collected north. Aontú MLAs will table a similar Bill in Stormont after the Stormont election. We call on the Irish and US governments and the EU to put pressure on the British Government to institute similar legislation in Westminster.