Allister attends Smithwick Tribunal
08 December 2011
Speaking after attending today's public hearing of the Smithwick Tribunal in Dublin - the first Unionist leader to do so - Jim Allister QC MLA said it was important that unionists showed a hands on interest in this Inquiry, as the only one looking at all at how the IRA's murder campaign was assisted from the Reublic of Ireland.
"Today's evidence - though curtailed by prospective legal challenge from Corrigan regarding two aspects of Mr Ryder's intended evidence - was a significant synopsis of how for years the Republic equivocated and dragged its feet, to the point of obstruction, on co-operation to defeat the IRA's murderous campaign. The pivotal contribution of Dundalk, including factory production of bomb parts, was well illustrated.
"I look forward, in due course, to Mr Ryder being able to give his complete evidence, which may move this Inquiry onto a new plain of investigation to establish just how high information on suspected collusion went in the southern state.
"Another key issue which the Inquiry needs to explore is just how high within the IRA structure the decision to murder RUC officers Breen and Buchanan went. Patently, the organisation to perfect these murders, though swiftly instigated, was unlikely to have proceeded without authorisation from the IRA's 'Northern Command'. Who gave that authorisation is a question which should be pursued, irrespective of the political inconvenience that it might now entail!"
