Corbyn again fails to condemn IRA
Jeremy Corbyn has condemned “all acts of violence from wherever they came” during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, but declined to specifically denounce the IRA as terrorists.
The Labour leader spoke after Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire accused him of having “IRA sympathies” and urged him to make clear whether he believes the group were terrorists and if their actions should be “unequivocally” condemned.
Mr Corbyn has come under fire for refusing to single out the IRA for condemnation
when pressed over his past campaigning activities, and he again refused to mention them specifically.
Mr Brokenshire’s questions were put to Mr Corbyn by a reporter after the Labour leader gave a speech in Hull.
Mr Corbyn said: “I condemn all acts of violence in Northern Ireland from wherever they came.
“I spent the whole of the 1980s representing a constituency with a large number of Irish people in it, we wanted peace, we wanted justice, we wanted a solution.”
Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said Mr Corbyn was “on the right side of history” in supporting Irish republicans and had respected the party’s democratic mandate.
Former Irish premier Bertie Ahern warned against digging up “any of the enmities, animosities of the past”.
Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster said Mr Corbyn’s stance was “abhorrent”.