Courtney McGrailDear Editor, Dr Martin Mansergh’s opinion piece (IC 09/07/2015) was a relatively balanced analysis of issues connected with the recent royal visit to Mullaghmore. Dr Mansergh also provided some useful and insightful commentary around the calibre of person that Lord Mountbatton was.
Our organisation abhors terrorism and violence whether carried out by republican or loyalist paramilitaries or individual members of the security forces who dishonoured the code and engaged in acts of criminality. We oppose and reject actions taken by members of the security and intelligence services and also officials of governments who can be evidentially proven to have acted with criminal intent.
Within his commentary Dr Mansergh blames Britain for many ills but he makes one glaring omission from his blame-game: his own Irish State. That State was not a neutral, non-participating observer of the Troubles.
Successive Irish governments presided over policy which refused to extradite terrorist suspects, (a pitiful 8% of requests were granted). Inept security policies operated by that State also contributed in facilitating the free movement of terrorists and, I believe, there is a yet unknown scale of unlawful activities between the Irish State’s security forces and republican terrorists.
The Smithwick Tribunal demonstrably showed there to be collusion in operation in the Breen and Buchanan murders. There are a further dozen cases within the South Armagh area where I believe there is a thread of collusion running through the events which saw lives taken. In West Tyrone and South and West Fermanagh there are also a number of unsolved murder cases where I believe such issues are a factor.
The Irish State may not have directly pulled triggers or detonated bombs but their approach to the Northern conflict meant that others were more confident doing so.
Yours etc.,
Kenny Donaldson,
Spokesman for Innocent Victims United, Lisnaskea, Co. Fermanagh.