TDs express solidarity with Bloody Sunday, Greysteel and Fullerton families and condemn 'amnesty'

The murders of 14 people on Bloody Sunday in Derry on January 30, 1972, Sinn Féin Councillor Eddie Fullerton in Buncrana on May 25, 1991, four people in Castlerock on March 25, 1993, and eight people in Greysteel on October 30, 1993, were among the atrocities mentioned during a debate on legacy in the Oireachtas on Wednesday.

TDs discussed Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson's recent Operation Greenwich report which identified ‘collusive behaviours’ and raised significant concerns about RUC conduct in relation to the loyalist massacres at Greysteel and Castlerock and the murder of Colr. Fullerton.

Simon Coveney, the Minister for Foreign Affairs said: "Whether we are discussing the victims of Bloody Sunday, Kingsmill, the Dublin-Monaghan bombings, the Birmingham or Omagh bombings, the Sean Graham bookmakers' attack or other incidents covered in these reports, we owe those families - every family - more than simply our outrage.

"We owe them our support and our determined efforts to make progress in establishing a genuine process of truth and justice for their loved ones."

The leader of the opposition Mary Lou McDonald said: "For the Ballymurphy and Bloody Sunday families, and for all the loved ones of those whose murders are detailed in the Police Ombudsman's reports, there have been years of hurt, pain and searing anger.

"There have been years of sleepless nights, chorused by that dull thudding sound that only such injustice can summon.

In relation to the British government's plans she added that there was "no support for its proposed amnesty here or internationally, and we stand with the families crying out for justice."

Paul Murphy, the People Before Profit/Solidarity T.D., said: "There is an important political point here where the British establishment likes to portray the conflict in the North as a war between two tribes where their army becomes, supposedly, piggy in the middle.

"Bloody Sunday arose because of a cold-blooded decision of the British establishment to suppress a mass movement for civil rights. Correctly, everybody is agreed there must be no immunity."

The Inishowen T.D. Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, referred specifically to the Eddie Fullerton case, and reference in Operation Greenwich to two former members of the UDR who were suspects in a number of North West UDA/UFF attacks.

"The last time I spoke on this, I invited the Minister and Department officials to have a serious look at the Operation Greenwich report and I referred to the shocking case of 'Person K'. He was a key suspect in 17 murders and seven attempted murders.

"The report of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland states that in 2016 the senior investigating officer for Operation Greenwich passed on a file about Person K to the PSNI. Six years on, we are not aware of where that investigation sits."

He also spoke about 'Person J' "who is also covered in this report, was a serving member of the UDR when he was a key suspect in the murder of Gerard Casey in 1989. In early 1991, the RUC found documentation on large numbers of republicans in the home of Person J. He was released on bail shortly after that. During the time he was on bail, he was a key suspect in two murders, that of Councillor Eddie Fullerton and Tommy Donaghy, who was a member of Sinn Féin."

Fianna Fáil T.D. Seán Haughey said: "Yet again, the ombudsman identified collusive behaviour and brought forward major concerns about the conduct of the police. The report examined the murder of Councillor Eddie Fullerton in County Donegal in May 1991, as well as the killing of four people in Castlerock in March 1993, and the gun attack which killed eight people in Greysteel in October 1993.

"I recall meeting Councillor Eddie Fullerton in the late 1980s during my Seanad campaign. I must say that he was very hospitable to me when I called to him. His murder was quite shocking to me, as it was, no doubt, to his family and all those who knew him. The January report makes for disturbing reading. The ombudsman is to be commended on her work.

"On February 1 we had a debate to mark the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. On 30 January 1972, 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment soldiers opened fire on innocent civilians, killing 13 people. As we know, the families of those who were murdered have campaigned for justice ever since."

Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said: "We know there is no British justice in Ireland. There is no British rule of law in Ireland. If there is a British amnesty, the perpetrators of these actions will simply get away with murder.

"Why did these covert murders happen? It was simply because of the international pushback against Britain after what happened on Bloody Sunday. The British military knew it could not get away again with killing nationalists live on television. It knew it would have to do it in a covert fashion and use loyalist proxies to do so," he claimed.

Fine Gael T.D. Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said: "The most striking thing for me in the report is, as always, the story of the people and how painful it is in the case of Patrick McErlain, Daniel Cassidy, Bernard O'Hagan, Thomas Donaghy, Patrick Shanaghan, Eddie Fullerton and Gerald Casey that there have been no prosecutions to date. The stories that are told of them add to our analysis and the honesty we need about the past."

As the Minister, Deputy Coveney, said: "Whether we are discussing the victims of Bloody Sunday, Kingsmill, the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, Birmingham, Omagh, the Sean Graham bookmaker's attack, the Shankill Road, Pat Finucane or Edgar Graham, every family has been affected and has had a loss in an equal way. Every family deserves to be treated in an equal way. Nobody is above the law and every murder must be treated in the same way by the law."

Thomas Pringle, the Independent Donegal T.D., said: "There is no doubt that the Police Ombudsman's report is damning. The report confirms in black and white that the RUC worked with informers who were part of loyalist paramilitary groups, that targeted individuals such as Eddie Fullerton were not warned of the threat against their lives, and that more than 80 people were murdered by loyalist weapons imported in an arms shipment that the RUC was aware of.

"Although the report gives evidence to what we already know, it is an important step in recognising and justifying the concerns of the families of the victims and an important step in furthering the peace process in the North."

Minister Coveney said: "We can move forward on this issue only collectively and we can accept only an approach based on the fundamental principles of truth, justice and the rule of law. That is surely not too much to ask.

"As I am sure we each experience when we read the reports of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, or when we meet with victims from across the community who have suffered such loss, reflected last month on the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the feelings of unfairness and injustice are powerful. The case for a process to address that sense of injustice, through thorough investigation and, where possible, prosecution, is clear."