‘British legacy proposals have a sole aim: to bury the truth’

On Tuesday, the House of Commons heard the second reading of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill – branded a “bill of shame’ by relatives.

To coincide with proceedings at Westminster, bereaved families were joined by justice groups at Guildhall Square to protest at the plans.

As family members held photos of loved ones, shoes were placed on the ground representing lost lives and spelling out the word ‘NO’. A banner reading, “3,600+ dead, 40,000+ injured – set the truth free”, was placed alongside.

Among those to address the protest was Billy McGreanery, whose uncle, Billy, was shot dead by a British soldier as he walked past an army post in Derry in 1971.

He said an apology his family received from the British Government in 2013 “means nothing” if there is “no lawful action”.

“Now they want to take the most basic right of justice away from us. This is not the way forward,” added Mr McGreanery.

“No one should be above the law and the words of an apology mean nothing if they are not followed up by the rule of law.

“This Tory government is a disgrace and should not have the power to deny justice to anyone.”

Marie Newton, whose husband and father of seven, John Toland, was shot dead by loyalists in Eglinton’s Happy Landing pub in 1976, branded the government plans as “shameful”.

She said the legacy bill was “scandalous” and said it had to be “wiped out”.

She pledged to fight it “every hour of every day”.

Emmett McConomy, whose brother, Stephen, was just 11 years old when killed by a plastic bullet fired by a British soldier in 1982, told the protest that the “Bill Of Shame has no place in our society.”

He accused the British government of trying to provide “legal cover” for soldiers who committed crimes in Ireland.

He added: “With one sweep of the Secretary of State’s pen, every victim of this conflict will see their rights to legal process removed forever. Furthermore, those who murdered our loved ones will never be held accountable for their actions.

“They wish to re-write what happed here. They want to block any means of the truth being told. They want to victim blame our loved ones. This bill’s sole aim is to bury the truth.”

He said the proposals were a “direct challenge” to the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process.

“The British government, the NI office, the British army and the RUC has spent the last 40+ years blocking families at every juncture from seeking the truth. But we have never given up and we do not intend to give up now.

“I would like to call on our friends in Europe and in America to stand with us as we challenge the shameful actions of the British government and send them a clear message that you will not stand by and let the British Government risk our Good Friday Agreement and our peace process.”

The new bill passed its second reading in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

The government insisted the bill would shift the focus from prosecutions towards “information recovery”.

It passed by 285 to 208 votes, with only Conservative MPs voting in favour.