Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

They say that peace is more than the absence of war. Some 50 years ago this country was in terrible turmoil and there was terrible death across the entire island. All the lives that were lost in that conflict are a terrible loss and a terrible tragedy to all of those families. Thankfully, we had the Good Friday Agreement 25 years ago. The promise of that agreement was that we would look at the causes of war. The cause of war is the absence of justice. Now, here we are 25 years after the Good Friday Agreement and we are still not dealing with the problems of that conflict.

The real issue here is that the Irish State has simply not done enough to put pressure on the British State, but also within this State, to provide the documents to the families and their legal representatives. We have action to take here in this State. The people involved have been mentioned. We all know the UVF was involved. There were members of the RUC and members of the UDR, both full time and part time, involved, but there were also members of British military intelligence forces, who have a direct line back to Whitehall. That is the reason the British Government does not want to expose this. It is because it was British Government policy in Ireland to support loyalists to carry out these atrocities. That is why it refuses to engage. It is because it goes right to the heart of the British Government's policy. That is something this Government must recognise and acknowledge. If the British military intelligence services had such influence on loyalists at that time, when we look at what happened with the Garda investigation and the actions in this State, we must wonder whether they also had influence here, and if that is part of the reasons for all of this.

The families and their representatives are present. I know Margaret Irwin, whom I met several times. She is one of the key contacts with the families in respect of all of this. She has worked tirelessly for the last 25 years with every Government and done everything, including putting on every pressure to try and ensure that we would get a solution. That has not happened. That is the reality the families face. Others here have said that justice does not exist, but we must remain relentless. We cannot accept that. We cannot accept that there will not be a day when these families will get the truth. The truth can be hidden but the truth does not change. The truth is the truth. These people deserve it. This Government must step up to the mark and ensure that it delivers for them.

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