Mr. Paul O'Connor:

Okay. Through our offices in Armagh and Derry we are responsible for approximately 170 cases throughout the North, throughout all counties and throughout various communities. The largest number of people who approach us - and they make the decision to approach us - come from within the Nationalist or republican community, but not all. There are people from within what is called the PUL community, namely, the Protestant, Unionist and loyalist community, who approach us because of truth recovery efforts that they are engaged in.

I want to explain what the impact has been during the past two to three years and, fairly briefly, since the suspension of the Historical Enquiries Team, HET, because that has had a profound effect on many families. Many people who live outside that particular little bubble within which the non-governmental organisations are working are not aware of that fact. The suspension of the HET was brought about by a very critical report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, HMIC, which, in turn, was sparked by a critical report compiled by the University of Ulster. Quite literally, on the day of the suspension we were with HET officers who were meeting families for the very first time. Those families were lodging their complaints about the death of their loved ones on the very day of the suspension. For the first time in 30 or 40 years, they were meeting officers from some type of police investigation unit in order to try to obtain some answers and then the news came through that the unit had been suspended.

For many other families, we had a situation where HET reports that were quite problematic were issued. Our job was to go through those reports and point out the difficulties with them. There were many other families that were still in the queue and in respect of which the HET process had not even kicked in. There were at least 100 plus families affected by the fact that the reports into their loved ones' deaths were left unfinished as a result of problems that had arisen or because investigations into their cases had not even begun. We have a large number of cases - the Glenanne series of cases, of which I am sure the members are aware - which are linked to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings and so on and in respect of which we have been working for many years. Even in those cases, in respect of which some very good reports have been compiled, many questions remain unanswered. There is an overarching report which we were promised by the HET but which was never completed and which is currently the subject of litigation in the courts in Belfast.

From our perspective as a non-governmental organisation, since July 2013 a very large number of families have been left waiting to see if a new body will be set up. It is very important to consider this matter from a human perspective, particularly in the context of what is happening at Stormont now and what has occurred since the suspension of the HET two years ago. These are families that have never met police officers. Following the death of their loved ones, they never met police officers. They were informed by family members, priests or others of the death of their loved ones. They have never had engagement with a police investigation. It is vitally important that some type of independent and robust investigative mechanism be established. There has been no such mechanism in place in recent years, with the exception of the Office of the Police Ombudsman. It is important to note that the Police Ombudsman can only investigate allegations relating to the RUC and not to actual murders.

Approximately 30 of the Glenanne cases are currently with the Police Ombudsman. The examination of them is due to start in November. They include the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, the Castleblayney bombing and other cases relating to the Republic. Again, issues and problems have arisen in respect of these cases. Although the examination of them has yet to begin, we would be anxious that the joint committee clarify the position in respect of Garda co-operation. I am aware of the testimony given earlier by the Fullerton family. We work with the Fullerton family and I have attended meetings at which officials from the Police Ombudsman have given evidence to the effect that they simply have received no co-operation. This issue needs to be resolved and perhaps that might happen in the context of the Stormont House Agreement.

With regard to the mechanisms that have been proposed, draft legislation relating to the establishment of the historical investigations unit was published yesterday. By and large, we would welcome much of what has been put forward - we believe the families would also welcome it - in terms of some type of investigative unit that is robust and independent. However, there are issues which arise and the devil is in the detail. I suspect Mr. Brian Gormally will touch on that, on some of the issues around national security and on the matters relating to who would do the investigating. It is of absolute importance that an investigative unit such as the HIU be realised as soon as possible. Leaving aside the legal issues, while such a unit is not in place, Britain remains in violation of its obligations under Article 2 of the European Convention.

We are broadly supportive of the HIU. We think that the proposals are a good idea but it should happen sooner rather than later because there is a generation dying off. More than 50% of such deaths in the North occurred before 1976, which is almost 40 years ago, and we see, in Justice for the Forgotten and in other families that we work with, that the relatives are dying. The clock is against us.

There is also a proposal for the independent commission on information retrieval and for the implementation and retrieval group. Someone thought of a lot of acronyms when involved in their negotiations. It is our view that there has been a considerable amount of mischievous reporting on these different mechanisms. From our point of view, it is absolutely clear, there is no amnesty mechanism built into the Stormont House Agreement and it is important to nail that because that is a myth that has been put out there recently. There is no amnesty mechanism; there is a limited immunity mechanism. Limited immunity is the same mechanism as was provided to the Parachute soldiers who gave evidence in the Guildhall in Derry. They could not be prosecuted on the evidence provided in that hall; they could be prosecuted on the basis of a police investigation, which is now ongoing. The same applied to the Commission on the Disappeared; there was limited immunity. We think it was a good idea. We feel that the commission has succeeded in the sense of victims' remains and providing some closure for those families. We think that those are strengths and issues that should be pursued.

There are a number of other issues I want to touch on briefly. One is the issue of inquests. Many here will be aware of the case of Sean Brown, the GAA official kidnapped and murdered in Bellaghy in County Derry in 1997. In that case, I have been accompanying the family to preliminary inquest hearings for nine years. We have been at approximately 28 hearings of preliminary inquest. There has been a shameful delay over the past nine years. By and large, the reason for the delay is that the PSNI has failed to go through its discovery process and provide details to the coroner despite constant complaints from the most senior coroner in the North that the PSNI has not done what it is supposed to do. We have been in that room 28 times with the family, waiting for information to finally be provided to the inquest. What is happening is an absolute disgrace. I note that the Kingsmill families and many others are now in the same queue and are being held up in the same way. That is an issue that needs to be addressed urgently.

I will give a brief update on the case of Pat Finucane because, as a representative of the Pat Finucane Centre, it would be remiss of me not to do so. There has been a recent court challenge taken by the family. It did not succeed in all of the challenge it took within the judicial review but the judge found that the UK Government had not fully complied with its European Convention obligations to the Finucane family. The family are now considering its options. The inquiry that was promised as part of an agreement between the Irish and British Governments has not happened. The Irish Government kept its part of the bargain but the British Government did not. Following that legal case, the British Government attempted to impose the legal costs for those legal proceedings on the Finucane family but the judge kicked that out of court recently. I am happy to take any questions.