Mr. Colum Eastwood:

I thank Mr. Teggart, Ms Quinn and Mr. Ó Muirigh for participating in this meeting and again giving their testimony, which they have had to give over many decades. I remember Mr. Teggart and the rest of the families coming to Derry many years ago and meeting the Bloody Sunday families. They were walking a lonely road. The Ballymurphy massacre did not have the same publicity as Bloody Sunday and other incidents. It did not happen in front of the cameras and happened over three days. When one reads through the evidence, the butchery that was visited upon those people in Ballymurphy was astonishing. That evidence was gathered by the families and no one else. The families had to do this themselves.

The British Government murdered these people's loved ones, then blackened their names and denied them truth. Now it is trying to deny them justice. That cannot be allowed to happen. The ten people who were shot and murdered have now loudly been declared entirely innocent. It is also important to remember Paddy McCarthy, who was a brave man trying to feed children on the streets of Ballymurphy that day and was violently harassed by the paratroopers to such an extent that he ended up having a heart attack and dying. It is such a tragedy.

The bravery and tenacity shown by all of the families over the years are inspirational and something from which we should all take heart. We must also be clear. Like others, I am in discussions with the British Government. It is absolutely determined to have an amnesty for everyone who committed murder during the Troubles. That cannot be allowed to happen. I have listened to well-meaning but naive people who always say that we can surely move on. How can we move on if people are denied truth and justice? We cannot get to the truth unless there are proper investigative processes. We have tried asking nicely. The British Government and paramilitaries are not going to come forward with the truth unless we drag it out of them, and the only way to do that is with a proper investigative process. That is the only way the Ballymurphy families will get justice and many other families will get truth.

Right now, we need an urgent response from everyone in Dublin, America and across the world. This minute, there is a determination by the British Government to close this down. That is what it will do quickly. If this committee can do anything, it is to be loud and determined about ensuring that the British Government does not get away with doing this quietly. As Ms Quinn stated, the British Government will try to do this and we need to resist it at every single turn.

I thank the families for participating today. It is not easy for them to have to keep going through this. They should keep telling their story. A couple of weeks ago, they believed they had a big victory. They did, but the British Government rained all over that in the way it responded. It is despicable that Prime Minister Boris Johnson had to be dragged to the House of Commons and, when he actually made some sort of apology, it was not for the actions of the paratroopers, but for the way the investigations were handled or whatever he said. I do not believe anyone expected much more of him, but it was still wrong and we have to keep saying that.