Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I believe I must raise an issue of great importance to people of all communities in the North who were bereaved or injured during the conflict.The relatives of persons killed by all armed actors in the conflict - republican, loyalist and the British state - need a human rights-compliant remedy in the form of the legacy mechanisms that were agreed in Stormont House and signed by both Governments and all parties. I have been contacted by the cross-community organisation Relatives for Justice, which provides support to the bereaved and injured relatives of all the actors in the conflict on an inclusive and non-judgmental basis. They have asked me to highlight their disappointment at the response from An Taoiseach to the question that was asked in the Dáil last week. The work being done by Relatives for Justice is of great importance and must be embraced by both Governments in line with their duties as signatories to the Stormont House Agreement. It must be of significant and increasing concern to the Government that there has been no progress by the UK Government on the legislation to implement the Stormont House Agreement framework to deal with the legacy of the past in the North. At this time of increased tensions in the North, all cross-community initiatives must be supported.

I wish to highlight the heavy-handed tactics of the PSNI in its assault on the relatives taking part in the commemoration of the murder of their family members in the Sean Graham bookies on the Ormeau Road 29 years ago. That attack on unarmed people in a bookies is an example of the collusion between the police and loyalist paramilitaries. The failure of the police ombudsman to publish the long-completed report on the collusion in the attack on the bookies has added to the grief of the survivors and the relatives. It is absolutely devastating for them. It is now time the report were published. I call on the Taoiseach today to give an undertaking that this Government will meet Relatives for Justice - it is not much to ask - and make representations to the British Government that it fulfil its obligations under the Stormont House Agreement.