Sir Iain Livingstone asks football fans not to ignite sectarianism
SIR Iain Livingstone has called on people not to act in a way which could fuel sectarian tensions in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
In his first major newspaper interview since stepping down as chief constable of Police Scotland after six years, he urged football fans, political parties and the wider population to be mindful of their behaviour.
He made the comments during a lengthy interview in which discussed his role as head of Operation Kenova, which is investigating the activities of British Army agent Freddie Scappaticci.
The Belfast man, codenamed Stakeknife and who died last year aged 77, was a senior figure in the IRA’s internal security unit which abducted, tortured and murdered dozens of people during Northern Ireland’s Troubles.
Operation Kenova’s interim report, published earlier this month, found that the running of Stakeknife, who was not named in the document, by the security services, probably resulted in more lives being lost than saved.
It also found that the security forces repeatedly withheld and did not action information about threats to life, abductions and murders in order to protect agents from compromise.
The interim report revealed that while the use of agents undoubtedly saved lives during the Troubles, there were occasions when preventable crimes were allowed to happen and went unsolved as a result of efforts to protect agents.
It also identified several cases of murder where the security forces had advance intelligence but did not intervene in order to protect sources. And it found that a lack of legal framework to govern the use of agents during the Troubles created a “maverick culture” where agent handling was considered a high-stakes “dark art” that was practised “off the books”.
Reflecting on what lessons people in Scotland should learn from the Troubles and from the Kenova interim report, Sir Iain pointed to the close ties between Scotland, the UK, Northern Ireland and the Republic.
He said: “What happened in the communities in NI is not something we should ever forget. It is important to remember just the brutality and how so many families were ripped apart. Everybody including people in Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom should ensure that everything we do supports the peace process.”
He added: “The United Kingdom and Ireland are so culturally linked – there is the old joke about half of Donegal in Glasgow and half of Glasgow in Donegal.
“And also I think we need to make sure that anything we do does not allow those Troubles to be reignited – that could be something like how you support your football team, to how you conduct yourself in your day-to-day business.
“Sectarianism is something I have an absolute revulsion for. I don’t think it has any place in a civilised society, it doesn’t have any place in Scottish society, and we need to ensure that how we conduct ourselves in Scotland doesn’t underpin some of that sectarian hatred that lay behind the Troubles.
“I think it is really important to recognise what went on for the communities of Northern Ireland and for the people we are very close to, and make sure that what happened can never be repeated.
“And that everyone in all walks of life, all political parties, and everyone committed to democracy, is committed to the peace process.”
The report drew attention to the overall level of violence during the 30 year conflict.
It stated: “Between 1966 and 2006, there were 3,720 conflict related deaths and 40,000 people were injured – 213,000 people are today experiencing significant mental health problems as a result of the conflict.”