For all the tremendous strides taken to make this society a more peaceful place, the ghosts of the Troubles are seldom far away.
It is one of the reasons, but an important one, why attempts to address legacy issues will continue to fail if they seek to silence the voices from the past and quash the truths they have to share. The past demands justice, but it also needs a process of investigation and truth recovery that can be trusted and supported by victims.
Too often we have been brought in the wrong direction. This has been emphasised by the maelstrom of controversy engulfing the British government’s iniquitous Legacy Act, but could also be said of, for example, the revisionism peddled in some quarters about the IRA’s murderous activities.
- Archbishop Eamon Martin says Kenova report highlights lack of disclosure on murder ‘that wouldn’t be tolerated anywhere elseOpens in new window
- Operation Kenova report is another blow to the Tory legacy act – The Irish News viewOpens in new window
- As the latest Columba McVeigh search ends, republicans must do more for the families of DisappearedOpens in new window
For those who continue to play political and legal games with the past, the dignity, grace and steadfastness of the families of the Disappeared are a stinging rebuke. As they do every year, they came together on Sunday for a Mass to commemorate their loved ones.
‘Disappearing’ was one of the most depraved practices perpetrated by republican paramilitaries during the 1970s and early 1980s. The targets of this medieval barbarity were abducted, murdered and secretly buried. The perpetrators then compounded their cruelty by smearing the reputations of their victims - an approach with chilling echoes in how Freddie Scappaticci and the IRA’s so-called internal security unit operated.
The state has withheld and suppressed information on legacy cases but as the families of the Disappeared know all too well, republican paramilitaries have also attempted to keep their sordid secrets buried, including in remote bogs and beaches
The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains, which will mark its 25th anniversary in May, has done incredible work in recovering the remains of 11 of the 17 people on the ‘official’ list of the Disappeared, with the remains of two others being recovered separately. The long wait continues for the families of Joseph Lynskey, Columba McVeigh, Robert Nairac and Seamus Maguire.
Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin, addressing the families of the Disappeared, said that Jon Boutcher in his interim Kenova report was the latest to make it clear “that families like yours and others who are coping with the legacy of our conflict simply cannot find peace or trust until the truth emerges, and your loss is properly acknowledged”.
A poignant Mass today for the Disappeared presided over by Archbishop Eamon Martin. Words of comfort, a resolve to continue to work to find the bodies of those disappeared & a renewed sense of solidarity as the families of those recovered continue to support those who wait. pic.twitter.com/0OweM05QNZ
— WAVE Trauma Centre (@WAVETrauma) March 24, 2024
The state has withheld and suppressed information on legacy cases, which Mr Boutcher acknowledges in the Kenova report, but as the families of the Disappeared know all too well, republican paramilitaries have also attempted to keep their sordid secrets buried, including in remote bogs and beaches.
Archbishop Martin is correct when he says that Troubles victims and their families “need to continue to be recognised, loved ones appropriately memorialised, and the truth - however, unpalatable - of what happened needs to continue to be unearthed”.
Until that happens, reconciliation will remain elusive.
