Allister Appalled at Reports of HET Delays - Caused by Sinn Fein
22 March 2012
Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“I am appalled by reports that the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) expects reports to be delayed because of the withdrawal of agency staff, as long demanded by Sinn Fein. The PSNI and HET must come clean on this issue.
"Sinn Fein has had a concerted campaign against the engagement of former RUC staff as back up in the PSNI and the HET. Now, it seems in yet another concession IRA/Sinn Fein is to get its way. This is shameful.
“Of particular concern is the report into the Enniskillen Poppy Day massacre. This year sees the 25th anniversary of the bombing which claimed the lives of twelve people – the last victim (Ronnie Hill) dying after spending 13 years in a coma. Many others live with the physical and physiological scars to this day.
“I have been contacted by one of the victims who has been told by the HET that the withdrawal of agency staff is likely to delay publication of the report into the Enniskillen massacre.
“Should the report not be published for the 25th anniversary of the massacre it is feared that its contents will go largely ignored by the media.
“Given that Peter Taylor stated in a BBC documentary in 2007 that security sources on both sides of the border had independently told him that Martin McGuinness was the leading figure on Northern Command at the time of the attack and that in the hours after the bombing McGuinness travelled to Fermanagh to question members of the local IRA unit to find out what had happened it is not hard to imagine why Sinn Fein/IRA would seek to impede the investigation.
“Moreover, the HET report is likely to link the Enniskillen attack with a second planned attack that day at Tullyhommon, which will cast IRA/Sinn Fein in even worse light.
“Could thwarting this and other reports be part of Republican thinking when they so vocally called for agency staff to be withdrawn from the PSNI?
“It would appear that all this has been done without any assessment of the impact which it will have on victims being carried out.
“Leaks suggest that the HET report will make uncomfortable reading for those who seek to portray the IRA’s bloody sectarian campaign as a noble struggle for freedom. It would be yet another insult if, as a result of Sinn Fein’s campaign the HET report into Enniskillen is delayed”.
