Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Tánaiste is right that all families deserve the truth. The difficulty is that the British Government and the British state have never accepted full responsibility for their full role in controlling, arming and directing Unionist paramilitaries throughout the decades of the conflict. That is the responsibility of the Government which is co-guarantor of all of the Agreements, from the Good Friday Agreement through to the Stormont House Agreement. Therefore, it is its responsibility. Can the Tánaiste imagine any other European jurisdiction where if a much loved elected representative was murdered by agents of another state, the government would pretty much sit on its hands for 24 years and accept it, despite the overwhelming evidence? Again, will the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach meet the family of Councillor Eddie Fullerton, listen to the latest update on their investigations and serious concerns and act on them? Furthermore, will they look at the Dublin and Monaghan bombings and the case of Pat Finucane? Will they tell the British Government it must take full responsibility for its part in the conflict? Other groups have accepted responsibility and apologised for the hurt and pain they inflicted during those terrible years. The one party that is missing from the equation is the British Government. It is the responsibility of the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste to make it live up to its responsibilities and get to the truth for the families who are asking for it.

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