Fury at Corbyn’s visit to university where lecturer was killed by IRA
JEREMY Corbyn has been heavily criticised over his plan to give a speech at a university where the IRA murdered a lecturer.
On his first visit to Northern Ireland as Labour leader, he will speak at Queen’s University in Belfast.
During his 30 years on the backbenches, Mr Corbyn campaigned for a united Ireland and shared platforms with convicted terrorists. His links to the IRA were monitored by the intelligence services.
Mr Corbyn will visit Belfast on Thursday as part of an attempt to exploit Brexit tensions over the Irish border question.
But his decision to speak at the university has caused controversy.
In 1983, at the height of the Troubles, the IRA shot dead law lecturer Edgar Graham, 29, a Unionist, as he walked in University Square. At the time, Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams refused to condemn the murder. Yesterday Tory Party deputy chairman James Cleverly told the Mail on Sunday: ‘It’s deeply concerning that Jeremy Corbyn is considering showing up where Edgar Graham was killed by the IRA.
‘It shows a callousness and deep lack of respect. Corbyn gave cover to the IRA while they were bombing and shooting our citizens.’
Meanwhile, Democratic Unionist MP Ian Paisley Jr challenged Mr Corbyn, saying: ‘I hope he sees this as an opportunity to condemn all IRA violence.’
As a backbencher, Mr Corbyn was a keen advocate of a united Ireland. In 1984, a fortnight after the Brighton bombing, he hosted two former IRA convicts, Linda Quigley and Gerard McLoughlin, at the Commons.
In 1987, he handed a petition to then prime minister Margaret Thatcher demanding better conditions for IRA terrorist Hugh Doherty. The security services are
‘It shows a deep lack of respect’
said to have kept a file on Mr Corbyn during the 1990s. Yesterday the Labour leader’s office refused to discuss details of the visit, but a spokesman said it was ‘nonsense’ to accuse him of a lack of respect.
‘Jeremy campaigned for peace in Northern Ireland,’ he said. ‘To do so, he campaigned for the rights of all to be respected and spoke to people on all sides of the conflict.’
The university billed the visit as Mr Corbyn’s ‘first major speaking engagement in Northern Ireland’ and said it would provide an opportunity to ‘hear his thoughts on some of the key issues relevant to the region including Brexit’.