Green Party Deputy Leader, Lesley Veronica welcomes release of the Kenova report

Lesley Veronica said “The depth and detail of this report is to be applauded as is the professionalism of the entire operation under the auspices of Jon Boutcher. It is however disappointing that it appears that yet again no one is being held to account for the preventable murders which this whole sorry and despicable story reveals. No consequences for the state for aiding and abetting a leading member of the IRA Security Unit and none for those who carried out the torture and murder of those suspected of being informers. All under the control of a British agent, himself a senior member of the IRA. If it was a spy story you wouldn’t believe it but in the Dirty War of the Northern Ireland conflict this rings all too true.”

“All too often we focus on the perpetrators, in this case the British state acting hand in hand with some of the most senior members of the IRA in the apparent interest of intelligence gathering. We think of those families who not only lost loved ones but had to live with the lasting stigma of being labelled ‘touts’ with the consequences that carried for years to come. The continued adherence to the policy of Neither Confirm Nor Deny means that names cannot be cleared and of course that the identity of the notorious ‘Stakeknife’ still remains elusive.”

“It is proper to acknowledge the failings of the state and to illustrate the atrocities carried out by the IRA Security Unit. However, the Green Party of Northern Ireland would like to focus instead on all the victims who today have come a bit closer to achieving truth but no closer to getting justice.”