Ireland’s Friends in America & Europe Need to Bring Pressure on British Amnesty & Collusion
On foot of PQ responses from the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Aontú Leader, Peadar Tóibín TD, and Aontú Deputy Leader Cllr, Denise Mullen, have called for international pressure from Ireland’s friends in America and Europe to stop the illegal British Amnesty and to ensure accountability for British collusion with loyalist paramilitaries to murder innocents.
An Teachta Tóibín: “I welcome the response from Minister Coveney, that he and the government have raised the issue of the illegal British Amnesty directly with Boris Johnson, the EU and our friends in America. Britain is carrying on as if a rogue state, flaunting international law and treaties with impunity. The issue of legacy was explicitly incorporated into the Good Friday Agreement, of which Britain is party to and a co-guarantor of. However, since 1998, any investigations into British collusion from the Barron Report, to the Da Silva report, have been stonewalled. Despite British collusion being identified in report after report, and innumerable court cases, the question of accountability remains unaddressed. For goodness sakes, Margaret Thatcher thanked the UVF for their ‘valiant work.’ These are secrets the British government intend to take to the grave and beyond, and the only mechanism to deliver accountability is via consistent pressure from the Irish government and our friends from all corners of the world.”
Cllr Mullen: “It was a welcome statement from the Minister, that the issue of British collusion with loyalist paramilitaries in the North to murder innocents was raised directly with the British government. To the people of the North, in their minds, it is quite simple: ‘British justice means no justice.’ We, the survivors of the Glenanne Gang, met only recently with the Taoiseach to discuss these issues because sadly for too many time is running out. It has been decades since these crimes were committed, and decades of fighting for any semblance of justice. The actions of the Tories in Westminster to stonewall our pursuit of justice, truth and accountability for those we love will not be successful. In the words of Martin Luther King, ‘the arc of history is long but bends towards justice.’ Justice, truth and accountability are not threats to our democracy – they are the building blocks upon which it is built. If the British government is fearful of justice, truth and accountability then that speaks for itself.”
