Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Victims group to speak out against Govt legacy proposals
Campaign against amnesty goes on
A CROSS-COMMUNITY group of Troubles victims is to host a discussion against the Government’s legacy proposals.
Politicians from both sides of the Irish border as well as former Police Ombudsman Baroness Nuala O’loan and Nipsa president Brian Smyth will be among speakers at the event in Belfast today.
A host of victims, including John Teggart, whose father was killed by soldiers in Ballymurphy, Julie Hambleton, whose sister was killed in the IRA’S 1974 bomb attack in Birmingham, Sarah Mckeegan, whose police officer father was killed, Raymond Mccord, whose son was killed by loyalists, and Michael Gallagher, whose son was killed in the Omagh bomb, will address the event.
The group recently visited Westminster where it received backing from the parties in its campaign against a proposal amnesty for Troubles offences.
It said it has the support of every major party in the British and Irish political systems, with the exception of the Conservative Party.
In a statement, ahead of the event, the group said: “Our group have proudly brought unity between the political parties and victims by a victims-led and driven campaign for truth and justice, and a rejection of the amnesty proposals.” There has already been widespread opposition to the plans to ban future prosecutions of military veterans and ex-paramilitaries for Troubles incidents predating April 1998.
The Government is also intending to put forward a new truth recovery model to help bereaved families gain information about the deaths of their loved ones without the prospect of a criminal justice outcome.