Statement by the President of Republican Sinn Féin Des Dalton

The revelations in the BBC Panorama programme, Britain’s Secret Terror Deals, screened on May 28, of British State collusion with loyalist death-squads will come as no surprise to Republicans and nationalists in the Six Counties. Over thirty years ago human rights campaigners such as Fr Raymond Murray were ignored and vilified by the British State and elements within the media for highlighting the fact of this collusion. The use of such a ‘Third Force’ was set out clearly by key British counter-insurgency strategists such as Frank Kitson.

The refusal of the British Government to release classified files relating to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974 speaks volumes about the culpability of the British government in directing and implementing a campaign of terror against the nationalist people of Ireland. The Six-County Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan described the calibre of those used by the British state: “Many of them were killers and some of them were serial killers.” The list of victims of this British-directed murder campaign grimly testifies to the accuracy of such a description.

These latest revelations merely underline the true nature of British rule in Ireland and its relationship with the nationalist community. The British State has never been an honest broker but rather has been and remains a protagonist in an ongoing war against the Irish people’s right to national independence.

Críoch/Ends

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