Mr. Paul Farrell:

Dr. Farry was asking about how we regard the impact of the case currently before the courts. That will go through an appellant system, so it would probably be unfair to speculate or comment on where it will ultimately land. However, the point we are here to make very clearly is that this is one public outworking of a challenge to what the Conservative Party is attempting to do regarding the affairs of Ireland, particularly the legacy proposals. We are here to assist in any way we can with the Irish Government's interstate case, because the two are not mutually exclusive. The persuasive power of the Irish Government within Europe regarding the case and the general support across the European community for people like Mr. McCord and other victims of the conflict in Northern Ireland in trying to seek and achieve justice are not lost on us. It is reflective of good work under the Good Friday Agreement, the associated structures and the committee that we have had progress on legacy issues in Northern Ireland. The Good Friday Agreement was an attempt to reconcile the differences between the two communities, and part of reconciliation is truth recovery.

No system is perfect but we were working through a coronial system. We had a newly established independent police complaints system and there were also opportunities for civil litigation for uncovering the truth. Although we have seen justice done in other cases, particularly in the Ballymurphy inquest which was of huge significance, and we are delighted the Ballymurphy families saw justice, the way things have fallen in Mr. McCord's case is that we can simply smell an injustice. While that smell of injustice lingers, questions will remain unanswered in the public domain. Questions will remain about the involvement of the intelligence agencies, the special branch and the further details on collusion that Nuala O'Loan uncovered in her report. None of those questions are not away. Unfortunately, with the way things are and the proposals that have been put forward by the UK side, we may never find out the answers to those questions. That is a sad reflection on this legislation. It does not take into account human feelings and emotions, and what victims need. Victims need answers and we are not getting them under the proposals that are making their way through at the moment.