The Police Ombudsman’s challenge to the way the PSNI responds to requests for information is “a complicated legal matter which emphasises how Northern Ireland continues to struggle with its past”, according to NI Conservatives’ co-chair, Trevor Ringland.
“Firstly, people should avoid giving knee-jerk responses to this judicial review and be careful about what they insinuate, because there are complex issues involved around the way information is managed”, Trevor explained. “Secondly, it highlights the fact that there is still no agreement on a comprehensive means of dealing with Troubles related incidents. Society in Northern Ireland has serious questions to answer about how we move forward in this regard.”
“There are, nevertheless, a whole raft of ways in which we can ‘deal with the future’, even if ‘dealing with the past’ remains a piecemeal process. Judicially, there can be mandatory life sentences for anyone who murders a police officer and tariffs can be doubled for terrorist related crime. We can reach agreement on an alternative site for a peace centre and build up an archive providing information on the terrible misery which violence caused for people right across our community. There can be formal apologies from paramilitary organisations for the mayhem they wrought and the state can apologise for the small number of incidents where members of the security forces acted outside the law.”
“We can focus on building relationships, integrating education and housing and creating a genuinely shared society. We can bring prosperity and jobs to Northern Ireland, by concentrating on growing a robust, successful private sector. The benefits are obvious, but to achieve these things it takes bravery, vision and leadership. Dealing with the past will continue to throw up all sorts of complicated legal and moral issues, which shouldn’t be exploited or simplified for political gain, while dealing with the future should be the pressing priority for all leaders in our society.”