British refusal to face up to its role in Troubles blocking reconciliation

Published on 29/06/2012 02:03

Britain is blocking reconciliation on the island of Ireland by refusing to face up to its role in the violence of the Troubles, Martin McGuinness said at Westminster last night.

The senior Sinn Fein figure addressed an audience in Portcullis House at the Houses of Parliament in London just a day after his historic handshake with the Queen in Belfast.

But while he hailed that moment as a vital step in healing relations between Protestants and Catholics, he said efforts to broaden the process of reconciliation were being hampered by the British government.

Mr McGuinness, a former IRA commander and now deputy First Minister in Northern Ireland, said Prime Minister David Cameron had failed to involve himself fully in the efforts to build on the peace process, and accused his government of making “a series of stupid and unhelpful decisions”.

He said: “I genuinely regret every single life that was lost during that conflict and today I want every family who lost a loved one to know that your pain is not being ignored and I am willing to work with others to find a way to deal with our past so that we can complete our journey to true reconciliation.”

He added: “National reconciliation will be built on the firm foundation of mutual respect and decisive actions. That is the context within which I met Queen Elizabeth this week.

“It was in a very pointed, deliberate and symbolic way of offering the hand of friendship to unionists through the person of Queen Elizabeth for which many unionists have a deep affinity. It is an offer I hope many will accept in the same spirit it was offered.

“Unfortunately, to date, the British State has refused to even acknowledge its role as a combatant in the conflict.

“That position is no longer tenable as we move forward. It is insulting to victims of events like Bloody Sunday in my own city when 14 people were killed and it is insulting to people’s intelligence.

“It is also excluding the British state from assisting a genuine process of national reconciliation in Ireland.”

Mr McGuinness said that he and his unionist partner in Stormont, First Minister Peter Robinson, had met US President Barack Obama more times than they have met Mr Cameron.

Mr McGuinness accused the government of “stupid and unhelpful decisions” including the imprisoning of high-profile republicans who had been released on licence, and the failure to fulfil a commitment to hold a public inquiry into the state role in the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane.

He also condemned the refusal to grant an independent probe into the deaths of 11 civilians in Belfast – including a mother of eight and a Catholic priest – who were shot dead by members of the Parachute Regiment in what has become known as the Ballymurphy Massacre in 1971.

The Queen’s handshake with Mr McGuinness came against the background of her own family’s loss at the hands of the IRA, in the 1979 bombing that killed Lord Mountbatten.

But when the Queen paid her first state visit to the Republic of Ireland last year, she was praised for expressing the wish that history had been different for both Britain and Ireland, and expressed concerns for all the victims of violence.

Mr McGuinness said he was impressed by the remarks and said that during his private meeting with the Queen he “emphasised the need to acknowledge the pain of all victims of the conflict and their families”.