Anderson's IRA Terrorism No Different from Bombings Today
23 January 2012
The following is Jim Allister’s contribution to the Matter of the Day on terrorism this afternoon in the Assembly:
“All terrorism is wrong. The bombing of Londonderry at the weekend was utterly wrong. So too was the perpetual bombing of that great city by the Provisional IRA, which set the template for what has been carried on in that regard. There was no justification then, and there is no justification now. Those who seek to distinguish — to justify former terrorism while condemning present terrorism — stand themselves condemned because of the inconsistency in their position.
“Some people ask why it is continuing. In part, it is continuing because those who do the present bombing look at the former bombers and conclude that it worked for them.
“They see a reward for terrorism. Indeed, if they look into this very House at this very moment, they will see sitting on the Front Bench a lady from Londonderry convicted of conspiracy to commit explosions in coastal resorts throughout Great Britain. They see no difference between what she did and what they do. They conclude that it worked for her and her party, so why not for them? That is one of the reasons why terrorism continues.
“We also discover today in Peter Hain’s memoirs that there are other contributors to the success and reward of terrorism, and that that included the buying off of those who hitherto said they would not bring into government convicted terrorists. It included the buying off through financial inducements and through flattery — the oldest trick in the book.”
