HET budget ‘running out’
The Director of the Historical Enquiries Team, set up to investigate the unsolved murders of the Troubles, told UTV he was concerned some victims’ families will not get the answers they need.
The HET was set up in 2005 to investigate the 3235 unsolved murders of the Troubles between 1969 and 1998.
But its future is uncertain, as under its current remit the team’s £34m budget will run out in 2011.
Director Dave Cox said that the work already accomplished by the organisation had been important.
“Most families had no information at all and that is probably our biggest success,” he told UTV.
“We’ve been able to work with families and help them to understand what happened and that has been a big comfort to a lot of people.”
The family of John, Brian and Anthony Reavey, who were murdered by loyalists at the height of the Troubles in 1976, said the HET helped them to come to terms with their losses.
No one was ever convicted for the murders.
But Dave Cox was the first person with the power to investigate what happened on the night of their murders.
“He apologised for the appalling behaviour of the security forces in the aftermath of the shooting and said that the evidence at the scene confirmed that they were totally innocent”, Eugene Reavey said.
“I don’t know how to explain it but it was one of those moments I will never forget in your life.”
Five hundred and eighty cases have been completed but nearly 2000 cases remain to be investigated.
“It is hugely frustrating for families who are waiting and worrying to see whether there will be a process around to deliver for them,” Dave Cox said.
