Scan the new ‘Joint Framework’ signed by the British and Irish governments to address the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and one word is not in it at all: ‘veterans’.
Amid all the talk of new inquests, new ‘inquisitorial mechanisms’ and the momentous precedent of giving a foreign government a say in what shall or shall not constitute ‘reconciliation’, there is no attempt to address a fundamental flaw in this great quest for justice. As things stand, former servicemen and women, who were bravely following orders 30 or 40 years ago, are now open to prosecution for actions – which were thoroughly investigated at the time – under laws which did not exist back then.
And no group is more alarmed about this than former members of the UK’s Special Forces. They were at the sharp end of the fight against IRA terrorism and are now prime targets for the flood of legal actions which will follow yesterday’s announcement. As one SAS veteran from those days put it last night: ‘The IRA lost the war so they are trying to win the peace. And this is going to make it easier for them to try to do that, funded by the UK taxpayer and the legal aid gravy train.’
SAS veterans are now steeling themselves for more inquests like the one held into the 1992 killing of four IRA terrorists at a car park in Clonoe, writes Robert Hardman
A British soldier drags a Catholic protester during the ‘Bloody Sunday’ killings in 1972
The IRA could also expect investigations into their own activities, especially since the Irish government is duty bound to open its own files on terrorist activity in the South. However, the veterans are not holding their breath. ‘What sort of records did the IRA keep? None at all. And the IRA won’t talk anyway,’ says a senior SAS veteran. ‘As for the Gardai [Irish police], they didn’t have a clue most of the time and didn’t want to know. As soon as a terrorist had planted their bomb in the North, they could be over the border and in the pub within the hour, no questions asked.’
SAS veterans are now steeling themselves for more inquests like the one held (prior to the Legacy Act) into the 1992 killing of four IRA terrorists at a car park in Clonoe.
The gang were caught with a huge anti-aircraft gun still warm from blasting a police station.
The judge’s verdict that the killings were ‘unlawful’ prompted the Mail’s ongoing ‘Stop The SAS Betrayal’ campaign and is now the subject of two judicial reviews.
Yet we can now expect more of the same.
As for the six ‘new protections’ for veterans promised by the Ministry of Defence, including a ‘right to seek anonymity’, the old soldiers are unimpressed.
‘They’re not new and they won’t protect us,’ said one last night.
‘Anyone can “seek” anonymity. What if it’s not granted?’