Two conflicting responses to the Secretary of State’s speech, first from Gerry Kelly…
“Her comments on the past are deeply offensive to the hundreds of victims of state killings and loyalist collusion. Many of these killings were ordered from the very top of the British establishment during the Thatcher era.
“Around 15,000 republicans were imprisoned during the course of the conflict. Only a handful of members of the British state forces were convicted during this time.
And secondly from Nigel Dodds, who was also responding to what he called the OTRs postman…
The facts are clear; 90% of deaths in Northern Ireland were caused by paramilitaries, and of those, two-thirds were by republicans. The IRA killed more Catholics than either the RUC or the Army, yet there has been a concentration of resources and calls for inquiries on a very small number of deaths.
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty