NI Conservatives’ co-chair, Trevor Ringland, has said a Criminal Injuries Compensation award to the relatives of a dissident republican who was murdered by his own paramilitary organisation, “sends out the wrong message”. Kieran Doherty, 31, was killed by the 'Real IRA' in 2010.
“It’s time to see all the political parties at Stormont back the principle that those whose relatives were engaged in terror or crime should not be entitled to compensation under the state’s scheme”, Trevor said. “There has also been an issue recently with former paramilitaries taking civil cases aimed at receiving damages. Given the billions of pounds of losses to the bereaved and to the economy which their organisations caused, surely there should be an effort to recoup this money and any legal fees they are awarded?”
“We really need to do more as a society to distinguish between victims and perpetrators. Let’s be very clear; in Northern Ireland, the security forces prevented all out civil war and saved 1,000s of lives. There were some members who acted outside the law and, of course, their actions should be condemned. Anybody who acted outside the law during the Troubles was wrong and that’s the basis on which we must proceed as society, whether it’s for the purposes of establishing compensation or a more comprehensive way of dealing with the past.”