Give us some truth

It’ll be some time before the real significance of what’s been happening in Northern Ireland over the past week becomes clear. There have been some dramatic developments, most notably the first ever public confirmation by the Northern Minister for Education, Martin McGuinness, of his role in the IRA at the time of Bloody Sunday. In addition we have seen an Ulster Television documentary which paints a sinister picture of the role of the Special Branch of the RUC in the murder of the solicitor Pat Finnucane. And the week ended with a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that 11 people killed by the security forces in Northern Ireland had their human rights violated.

There is a theme running through these developments that is of great importance, if we are ever to come to grips with the tangled history of the troubles and to find a lasting basis for peace and reconciliation between the divided communities of the North. It is a fundamental theme. And while, in musical terms, we can only ever play variations on it, even to be able to do this represents a huge leap forward. There is no such thing as the definitive version, and it is a fact that we all make compromises in relation to it, in the business of life, but it is something towards which we must continue to aspire. That theme is best expressed in a single word – not ‘the truth’ but simply truth.

There has always been a conviction, held deeply by sections of the Catholic minority in the North, and by those who oppose Unionist rule or who oppose the presence of the Crown in the six northern counties, that they have been unjustly treated by the State – and, more importantly, that those acting on behalf of the State have remained above the law, effectively unaccountable for the injustices for which they have been responsible. It began with the inception of the territory within a territory itself. Northern Ireland was founded as a protestant State for a protestant people and that was how it was ruled. The extent of this – and the basic injustices that flowed from it – have never been adequately acknowledged by representatives of Unionism.

And so when the Civil Rights movement emerged in the latter half of the ‘60s, the instinctive reaction of the State, and of the RUC acting on behalf of the State, and of the more militant Unionist groupings, was to crush it. From Burntollet Bridge – where a Loyalist mob attacked a peaceful civil rights march, and were allowed to do so unconstrained by the RUC – onwards, it was clear that the cards were stacked. And so it has proven, again and again. The murder by the British army of civilians in Derry on Bloody Sunday became the most notorious expression of the oppressive nature of the Northern state. But it happened in smaller, less visible, less measurable ways all the time. It was part of the fabric of life. And it was truly shocking and alienating in the impact that it had on the lives even of ordinary people of no particular political convictions.

It was against that background that the Provisional IRA was able to gain the foothold that it enjoyed in the Catholic ghettos of Belfast and throughout Nationalist areas of the North generally. The people believed – and they had good reason to believe, as the Northern uprising unfolded – that without some form of military protection, there was a constant risk that they would be subjected to intimidation and violence that would not only not be prevented or investigated by the forces of the State, but which would almost certainly be actively encouraged by elements within the controlling elite.

It is not that any of this even remotely justifies the campaign of violence, intimidation, murder and bloody mayhem in which, on their side, the Provisional IRA engaged. It doesn’t. But to recognise it is essential to understanding the rage that has been felt, and that has been expressed in different ways by members of the minority community, and that found its lethal outlet in the primal viciousness and ruthlessness of the IRA.

It has taken far too long – far, far too long – but reading the evidence at the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, you get the sense that the truth in relation to this terrible event is slowly, painfully emerging. In this context, the decision of Martin McGuinness to come forward is of enormous importance. Martin McGuinness will tell the truth about the role of the IRA on the day. And in doing so, he will make it all the more difficult for the Inquiry to avoid coming to the conclusion that the people of Derry have known for many years – that what happened on the day was callous, brutal murder of innocent civilians, and that the claim that the paratroopers were responding to an IRA attack is an evasion and a lie.

The decision of the European Court of Human Rights has relevance too in this context. With one exception, the individuals killed by the State had been members of the IRA. However, the findings of the Court offer a sharp rebuke to the British authorities for their handling of such enquiries

as took place – or which didn’t take place, might be more accurate – into the circumstances of the killings and the actions of the officers of the

State. The implications of the judgement are important in the ongoing struggle for truth: the State must be seen to act in a way that is balanced and fair and that holds those people acting on its behalf in the security forces responsible for their actions.

In relation to the murder of Pat Finnucane, there is only one way that the State can satisfy this requirement at this stage, and that is through a public inquiry. The evidence that there was collusion between the RUC and the murderers of Finnucane is extremely compelling. The Ulster Television programme highlighted the fear that was felt within the ranks of the RUC itself about any attempt to properly investigate the case. But until this investigation happens, the perception of those who have taken an interest in the issue will remain almost uniformly the same; there was dirty business afoot here and the State has failed in its obligation to get behind it – and if necessary to charge those responsible.

There is of course another dimension to all this that those on the Republican side must themselves also acknowledge. The search for truth can never be one-sided. Underneath the story about the decision of the European Court of Human Rights, as it was reported in the Irish Times was a small piece, the headline of which read: Man Shot In Front Of His Wife And Daughter. In all probability the murder was carried out by a Loyalist hit squad. But there have been hundreds of similar stories in which the perpetrators have been members of the IRA. Some kind of truth will have to be told about that too. And sooner rather than later.