Vincent P Martin (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

It was widely reported in the media yesterday that the Ulster Volunteer Force, UVF, provided answers to a family concerning a 1974 murder in Belfast. The late John Crawford, a father of nine, was shot dead in west Belfast in January 1974. Almost 50 years later, the family of the late Mr. Crawford was given a report by loyalist paramilitaries setting out the circumstances of the killing. His son Paul got the report from the UVF. It is important to point out that an investigation by the Historical Enquiries Team, HET, had confirmed his father’s innocence.

Mr. Paul Crawford began a seven-year communication with an intermediary to try to get some answers. Mr. Paul Crawford said it meant that the greatest degree of resolution possible has been obtained. It was reported in the media yesterday, including by RTÉ, that he said:

I do not believe in closure - my father was brutally and unjustifiably taken from us and that is a wound that will never heal - but as far as I am concerned this process has delivered absolutely full answers and full resolution of what I was seeking.

It does not undo the immense, irreversible hurt. However, that family got that crumb of comfort and it might be one of the last families to get it. Due to the decision of the British Government to proceed against the wishes of all parties in Northern Ireland, other parties will not have that level of explanation. Mr. Paul Crawford was at pains to point out that it is not closure.

Kieran McEvoy, a professor of law at Queen’s University, said that the fact that the British Government had now abandoned the terms of the agreement meant that the option of going through interlocutors was now lost to the families. Under controversial UK Government proposals currently working their way through Westminster, all civil and criminal options would effectively be shut down to families of the Troubles’ victims.

It is never too late. I know the House is more or less united in the point that we should use all our power of influence and persuasion as one island to speak and appeal to the British Government, which is out of step. It is unusual to get cross-party support in Northern Ireland. Everyone has bought into this. We will not have an authentic peace until we have properly healing, reconciliation and understanding. This is a step that people are being deprived of. I saw a positive light yesterday in the darkest chapter of our country, yet it may not happen for too much longer.