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Protesta delle vittime dei Troubles a Stormont

Victims of the Troubles stage protest: Families of those killed in Ballymurphy, Bloody Sunday and McGurk’s Bar among those at Stormont

Victims of the Troubles have staged a protest at Stormont to pressurise politicians into dealing with the past.

They want the Executive, British and Irish governments to implement proposals agreed during the failed Haass talks last year.

John Teggart, whose father was shot dead by soldiers in 1971 during an incident referred to as the Ballymurphy Massacre, said: “We are here as a reminder to the politicians that there are real people involved.

“We need to let the politicians know that whatever they decide to do, we need to accept it and they need to know that we will continue until we get our just demands.”

The day of action was organised to coincide with a new round of political talks aimed at tackling controversial legacy issues as well as the current financial difficulties facing the Stormont administration.

Among those taking part were families of people killed in the Dublin, Monaghan, Dundalk, and Castleblaney bombings.

They joined relatives of those killed as a result of State and paramilitary violence in Belfast and Londonderry including the Bloody Sunday, McGurk’s Bar, Ballymurphy and Loughinisland families.

In a symbolic move the bereaved campaigners placed victims’ shoes at the steps of Parliament Buildings with a note or photograph detailing their loved one’s murder.

Paul O’Connor from the Pat Finucane Centre, which helped organise the event, said: “We are calling on the British government to directly fund all legacy investigations through a unit independent of the PSNI.

“The collapse of the Victims and Survivors’ Service, the cuts to the Police Ombudsman‘s office and the proposal to move historic investigations to the PSNI following the demise of the HET have left victims feeling vulnerable and angry.”

Special measures set up to deal with the past have been badly affected by budget cuts in recent weeks.

Last month the PSNI announced it was axing the Historical Enquiries Unit (HET) which was set up to investigate unsolved Troubles killings. The Police Ombudsman has also reduced resources dedicated to examining historic allegations of police misconduct during the conflict.

The Coroners Service is also struggling to find the resources to deal with a series of long delayed inquests from the Troubles.

And although a £100 million Treasury loan secured by the powersharing Executive has temporarily alleviated the financial problems at Stormont, it has effectively only pushed the issue back to next year, when the loan has to be repaid.

Earlier this year Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Theresa Villiers refused to set up an independent review to probe the shooting dead of 10 civilians by soldiers from the parachute regiment in west Belfast more than 40 years ago.

Mr Teggart added: “We are here and the Government need to take on board our proposals.”

“My father was shot 14 times and he deserves justice.”

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René Querin

Di professione grafico e web designer, sono appassionato di trekking e innamorato dell'Irlanda e della sua storia. Insieme ad Andrea Varacalli ho creato e gestisco Les Enfants Terribles.

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