Minister for Justice, Home Affairs, and Migration Dáil statement on Kenova

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Thank you, a Cheann Comhairle.

I welcome this debate today. The Kenova Report is a difficult read but an absolutely essential one for all of us in this House.

We must face up to the wrongs of the past squarely if we are to achieve lasting peace and reconciliation on this island. The survivors and the families of the victims of the atrocities detailed in this report, and society as a whole, deserve no less.

We should not seek to excuse or minimise the harm and suffering caused, no matter by whom.

We must continue to seek answers and engage with difficult truths such as those found by the Kenova team.

The Government is committed to playing its part in addressing the legacy of the Troubles across these islands and has taken, and will continue to take, concrete actions to make this a reality. I will return to those actions later.

This report is a hugely important contribution to the search for answers and accountability. It represents the culmination of 10 years of painstaking, rigorous work and I echo the Taoiseach’s words of appreciation for the leadership provided by Jon Boutcher and Sir Iain Livingstone and the dedication of the entire team behind the report.

The work undertaken by Kenova across its four workstreams – Kenova, Denton, Turma and Mizzenmast – was wide-ranging and each is of significant public importance.

I take this opportunity to express my condolences to all those who were injured or lost family members in the litany of incidents examined in the report.

It is the sad reality of the history of the conflict, however, that the question of collusion, which has been so damaging to the pursuit of consensus on the legacy of the Troubles, is at the heart of two of these: Kenova and Denton. As the Taoiseach has rightly said, it is the corrosive effect of all collusion, both known and suspected, that undermines the confidence of families in legacy processes and our collective ability to move on from the conflict.

In relation to Stakeknife, the allegations around this figure in the Provisional IRA and his links to British intelligence have been notorious for many years. Kenova has exposed the nature and extent of the collusion that took place in relation to Stakeknife.

Kenova expressed caution about the careless use of the term ‘collusion’, but there can be no doubt that collusion took place in relation to Stakeknife. It was a perverse form of collusion in which the interests of British intelligence and their efforts to protect their informant at the heart of the Provisional IRA coalesced with the Provisional IRA’s own illegitimate actions to judge and savagely punish those it deemed a threat to its aims.

On the part of the British security and intelligence services, there were repeated failures to protect the victims of the Provisional IRA from harm and to bring those responsible to justice. Consequent on this were 27 cases in which Stakeknife was personally connected to the commission of serious criminal offences including murder, attempted murder and unlawful imprisonment.

Stakeknife’s personal role in the violence carried out by the Provisional IRA is shocking and grotesque but it should not obscure the wider reality that Kenova’s casework covered a total of 101 murders and abductions by that organisation.

Kenova has rightly framed the Provisional IRA’s role in this savage violence against innocent people as grave violations of human rights intended to intimidate and subjugate the community. It is a fundamental principle of human rights that they are universal and transcend political affiliation. There was never any justification for these violations of human rights to occur, even in the course of a bitter sectarian conflict.

In relation to Operation Denton, the summary report has underlined what was already either suspected or known in relation to many of the cases under review: that collusion between the UVF and the British security forces was taking place. While Denton concluded that there was no single, easily defined group operating from Glenanne Farm, as has been extensively alleged, it is no less shocking that Denton found evidence that there was a wider, more diffuse network of loyalist paramilitaries and members of the security forces that acted together to carry out vicious sectarian attacks across this island.

Ten of those incidents occurred in this jurisdiction including the Dublin and Monaghan Bombings. While Denton found that the prospect of any successful prosecution in relation to the Dublin and Monaghan Bombings was extremely unlikely from a UK perspective, I would emphasise, as I have done repeatedly, that the garda investigations remain open and that An Garda Síochána are fully committed to actively pursuing any new evidence that comes to light. That remains the case for all unresolved Troubles-related cases.

While there is no doubt that the investigation of legacy cases is challenging, due to the passage of time of course, but also due to the silence of those who carried out or ordered them or stood by, the work of Kenova demonstrates that it is possible to provide additional information to families after many years, and in some, albeit rare cases, to provide the prospect of justice.

In Operation Turma, the application of more developed forensic testing has resulted in a person, following his extradition from this jurisdiction, facing trial for the Kinnego Embankment Bombing in Lurgan in 1982. New information was also brought to light as part of Operation Mizzemast in relation to the killing of Jean Smyth-Campbell in West Belfast in 1972.

It is a sad reality that in the absence of information from those charged with investigating and prosecuting offences, survivors and the families of victims are left exposed to false and misleading information that can become entrenched and make the prospect of reconciliation on these islands more difficult.

With the agreement of the Joint Framework on the Legacy of the Troubles we have an opportunity to seek to provide truth, accountability and, where possible, justice for victims and families who have lost loved ones.

In this jurisdiction, this includes a commitment under the Framework by An Garda Síochána to endeavour to answers questions that families may have in relation to Troubles-related incidents and provide a family report where this is possible and would not cut across a criminal justice response. To that end, the Garda Commissioner has established a dedicated unit, the Troubles Legacy Liaison Unit, to act as a central point of contact and coordination for survivors and victims’ families in relation to investigations undertaken by An Garda Síochána in this jurisdiction. I would encourage those who have unanswered questions to make contact with the unit. The unit is also to act as a central point of contact for UK legacy bodies, including the Legacy Commission when established.

This dedicated unit operates alongside the continuing commitment by An Garda Síochána, as recognised in the Joint Framework, to investigate all unresolved Troubles-related cases within its jurisdiction and to ensure than any potential investigative opportunities are proactively pursued.

Despite some public commentary on this topic, these investigations have never been shut down and I am assured by the Garda Authorities that they remain open. I also want to be clear to the House today that there has never been any amnesty, official, tacit or otherwise, in place in this jurisdiction in relation to unresolved Troubles-related cases.

It is my hope that in due course, the reciprocal cooperation envisaged under the Joint Framework could allow for further progress to be made in some of these cases. However, I also do not wish to mislead the House into believing that justice will be achieved in all of them.

In my engagement with victims and families in Troubles-related cases, they have told me that they feel that time is running out for them in their search for truth and accountability. If there is something that can be learned from Kenova and drawn upon as we return to a joint approach to addressing legacy cases, it is the culture of transparency that it brought to the engagement of victims and families.

In this regard, I would again echo the Taoiseach in highlighting the essential role played by An Garda Síochána and the Government in providing what was described by Kenova as unprecedented access to materials. This can be taken as an indication of our intent in relation to the implementation of the Government’s commitment under the Joint Framework and I want again to state publicly my intention to bring legislative proposals for the wider implementation of the Joint Framework to Government for its consideration in April or May this year. This will add to the measures taken by successive Irish Governments over the years to support UK led legacy processes including Denton but also coronial inquests and most recently the Omagh Bombing Inquiry whose work continues.

Go raibh maith agaibh.