TWO GROUPS REPRESENTING the families of those killed in the Troubles have accused the British government of “abject failure” in addressing the legacy of conflict in Northern Ireland.
In a full-page ad in today’s Irish News, the Justice for the Forgotten group and Pat Finucane Centre criticised the lack of truth-recovery mechanisms in the Fresh Start deal agreed last month.
The agreement brought an end to the months-long impasse that threatened to collapse Northern Ireland’s power-sharing executive, but it failed to break the deadlock over legacy commitments set out in the Stormont House Agreement last year.
The British government has cited “national security” as the reason for retaining its veto on providing historical documents to the independent investigation into Troubles killings.
In a joint statement, the two groups said the ad is a “sign of the anger, frustration and bitter disappointment felt by over 150 bereaved families at the abject failure of the politicians and British government to implement” legacy proposals.
They added: “The anger and hurt expressed by bereaved families today is the tip of a very large iceberg.
Families, whether Catholic or Protestant, from both communities, in the privacy of their own homes, are both angry and grieving.
Paul O’Connor from the Pat Finucane Centre said: “Further action in support of the right to truth is being planned, including a possible full-page ad in a British daily newspaper.”
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