IMC whitewash won't do
01 May 2008
This morning’s Independent Monitoring Commission’s report amounts to a total whitewash designed to let the IRA’s political wing and their partners in the DUP off the hook. It is preposterous to argue that because the murder wasn’t supposedly “sanctioned” then it wasn’t an IRA killing. No one will find an IRA Army Council Minute sanctioning specific murders.
The report is a complete insult to victims and offers no protection to future victims because it gives terrorists the green light to operate as they like as long as the leadership is supposedly kept in the dark.
The IMC have conceded that IRA men killed Paul Quinn and that makes it an IRA murder. No if, buts or maybes.
For months we were told by senior Sinn Fein/IRA figures that their movement had nothing to do with it. On 22 October Gerry Adams said; "I do not believe that there was any republican involvement in this murder.” Similarly, Cornor Murphy described rumors of “any republican involvement” as “wild and baseless allegations” on 25th October.
It is now clear that this was patently untrue. Although the IMC attempt to sanitize the leadership even they concede that: “Amongst those involved were people who had in various ways been associated with the PIRA at a local level, including as members of the organisation.”
Doubtless those who partner the IRA’s political wing in government will seize upon the attempt to let the Provos away with murder.
However, back in October of last year Jeffrey Donaldson and I appeared on Radio Ulster. Responding to probing from myself he said the following:
“I speak on behalf of my party. If the IRA is involved – whether it’s individuals or – and there was a gang involved here – if there were a number of IRA members involved in this murder then that’s the actions of the IRA. We are not here to dance around this issue”.
It has now been officially confirmed that Paul Quinn’s murder was, by Mr Donaldson’s standards, the actions of the IRA. This demands immediate action.
One of the key flaws in the Belfast Agreement is that “Regardless of the behaviour of republicans there are no adequate provisions for the removal of Sinn Fein/IRA from the Executive in the current Assembly structure” (DUP Fair Deal manifesto, 2003). This remains the case. Due to the DUP’s failure to secure a default mechanism to remove the Provos from government the only honorable course of action now is for them to collapse the institutions.
However, it seems that justice for Paul Quinn, just like justice for Robert McCartney, will come a poor second to maintaining terrorist inclusive government.
The due strategy of armalite (or baseball bat as the case may be) in one hand and ballot paper in the other continues.
ENDS
