Anyone implicated in Northern Bank robbery should be in jail, not government - Allister
13 December 2010
Statement by TUV Leader Jim Allister
“Confirmation from the highest level of government in the Republic, which I’m sure was shared by HMG, that IRA leaders McGuinness and Adams were implicated in the Northern Bank robbery, begs the question why, instead of being groomed for government, neither was arrested and questioned over the biggest bank heist in Northern Ireland’s history. The answer, of course, is that the perversity of the ‘peace process’ made them a protected species, able, without restraint, to dabble in terrorism and politics simultaneously.
“Such knowledge and perversion of not just justice but basic decency should cause every Unionist who ushered McGuinness into government to hang their head in shame. Not only have we a convicted IRA bank robber on the Policing Board (Maskey), policing and justice devolved to a terrorist-inclusive Executive, but someone knowledgeable of the Northern Bank robbery, and much more, in the highest office in the land.
“Of course, the fact that McGuinness and Sinn Fein continue to deny the Northern Bank was even robbed by the IRA demonstrates their unsurpassed capacity for flagrant lies, safe in the knowledge that the political process protects them from justice.
“It is clear no serious attempt was ever made to solve the Northern Bank robbery at a level which carried any political risk. Now we know why. On a day when we hear hype over marvellous PSNI/Garda cooperation, the obvious question is what actual cooperation was sought and obtained in bringing to justice those implicated in this terrorist robbery? Not much, or it seems some people instead of being in government might be in jail.”
