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

The Operation Greenwich investigation and the report that flows from it, which was made public by the police ombudsman in the North, are absolutely damning. If the Minister has not read through the report, I ask that he do so. I will focus on one individual identified as "Person K". When one reads through the report, it is absolutely astonishing that Person K was never brought to justice for that person's central involvement in at least 17 murders and seven attempted murders.

Deputy Brendan Smith referred to a number of bombings in this State. That puts a focus on what is missing from our peace process. When the Good Friday Agreement took place, as the Minister well remembers, the IRA and loyalists - the protagonists on this island - accepted responsibility and conveyed their regrets for the hurt and pain they had inflicted during the conflict. What was missing, however, was the central role of the British state in that conflict, right through from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and into the 1990s.

One case that is deeply personal to me is that of Councillor Eddie Fullerton. Eddie was a personal hero of mine. I was a teenager when he was taken away from us. His family have campaigned tirelessly for justice for the last 30 years. In 2006, they made a complaint to the police ombudsman in the North. Seven years later, the then ombudsman, Dr. Michael Maguire, said that the issues he and his team had uncovered in the re-examination of Councillor Eddie Fullerton's assassination and murder had thrown up wider issues that he wanted to investigate. He asked the family if they would hold back on the interim report and wait until the publication of a final report. It was incredibly gracious of the family, particularly Eddie's widow Dinah who would have been in her 70s at that stage, that they did so.

If we fast forward to recent weeks, more than 15 years after the family's original complaint to the ombudsman, we end up with this damning report. It is a tribute to the Fullerton family in particular, but also all the other families. It deals with 19 murders between 1989 and 1993.

I want to talk about Person K. This person, whose identity is known to me and, more importantly, the families and their legal representatives is a mass murderer who was given a licence to kill by the British state. This person is closely identified with the murders of Gerard Casey, Councillor Eddie Fullerton, Thomas Donaghy, Danny Cassidy, Malachy Carey and the massacres at Castlerock and Greysteel. In the case of the murder of Malachy Carey, the person convicted as a getaway driver in that murder said he got the car from Person K. The getaway car was registered in Person K's name yet Person K was never arrested. That is what the ombudsman uncovered. Person K was at the scene of murder after murder and, again and again, was not brought to justice.

Person K gave an alibi for Torrens Knight, who admitted his responsibility for the Castlerock massacre and was also convicted of the Greysteel massacre. The alibi for Torrens Knight came from Person K. Another person, the brigadier of the UDA, also gave an alibi. Yet, after Torrens Knight admitted his role, they were never questioned or brought to justice.

The big one is the Greysteel massacre, however. One of those convicted for Greysteel identified Person K as overseeing the purchase of the car, supplying the weapons, making sure they got to carry out their dastardly deed. Person K's fingerprints were found on the holdall with the weapons used at Greysteel and the plastic bag. Again, Person K was not brought to justice.

I appeal to the Minister and his Department officials to examine this report deeply, particularly Person K, a mass murderer with a licence to kill. He must be brought to justice.

See this speech in context