I’m sorry to say I did not get to the Justice for the innocent talk organised by the SDLP at their party conference yesterday. It began at 1.15 in the afternoon,in the bunker room and by the time we’d finished interviewing Mr Durkan the discussion was over and we arrived as people were coming out. I knew at once that they were coming from something extremely emotional. There were quite a few women there with tears in their eyes, including the SDLP’s own very hard working Margaret Walsh. As soon as she saw me we embraced and it was possible to physically feel the emotion that had been in that room. I remember the emotional scenes of Paddy Hill and Gerry Conlon being released – watching the screens then it was possible to feel the emotion. That emotion is still there. Yesterday was the first I’d met both men. You feel upon meeting them that a great wrong had been done to them. I’m sorry I missed Raymond McCord, and the Quinn family. Hopefully at some stage they will meet and talk to slugger. All I managed to get was this meaningful message from Gerry Conlon, still the same working class person I read about. Neither Paddy nor Gerry were dressed in suits, and here is what he had to say, especially to west Belfast.
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