John Downey.
Foyle MP Mark Durkan has launched a scathing attack on Sinn Fein over the “On the Runs” controversy.
Speaking during a debate in the British House of Commons – secured by Mr Durkan – on the fallout from the High Court ruling on Donegal man John Downey, the SDLP representative claimed Sinn Fein’s negotiations with the British Government on the matter were never about victims of the Troubles, the Irish democratic interest or the interests of the nationalist community in Northern Ireland, it was “about Sinn Fein and its people.”
Mr Durkan said: “We have seen the adoption of contradictory positions.
“On the one hand, Sinn Fein has said that everyone knew all about this, and that this is an entirely confected concern now and, on the other hand, it has said that it was out of sensitivity to other people that it was secret and had to be done in that way.
“When one reads the whole judgment, it is absolutely clear how long and persistent Sinn Fein was in pursuit of the case for a scheme.
“It is also clear that a scheme was running from pretty early on. It went through various different mutations, but it was never enough.
“There was always the need for something more and for something else.
“What comes through is that in all the negotiations between Sinn Fein and the British and Irish governments, Sinn Fein was usually negotiating for itself and its people.
“It was never about the broad interests of the people or the (Good Friday) Agreement and its implementation.
SDLP Foyle MP Mark Durkan.
“It was never about the Irish democratic interest or about the interests of the nationalist community in Northern Ireland; it was about Sinn Fein and its people. That is what comes through consistently in the evidence.
“I share people’s disgust at the way in which this scheme has been conducted—where it has been worked through as a Shinners list.
“One party goes to the police with a list of names and the list seems to grow all the time. When we first heard about the on-the-run scheme, we were told that it involved only a few dozen people.
“Now we know that it is many, many more. We said that there would be many more, but were told by Tony Blair and others that that was wrong.
“Sinn Fein, which says that it believes in an Ireland of equals, has complained about political policing. It has criticised some investigations into offences since 1998 and has said that those investigations amounted to political policing, even though they were driven by evidence from victims.
“If anything is political policing it is when the police end up providing a scheme on a parti pris basis, with one political party for a certain political motive, just because that has been brokered or directed by the government of the day, and that is what has happened in this instance.
“It is our view – which we raised during the Haass talks – that we need to address not only what happened during the Troubles but how the past has been treated since the Troubles. At times, there has been dereliction and a collective failure in the process, because we have not addressed promises made to victims and pledges made about the past in the Good Friday Agreement.”
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