Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-05-09-Speech-1-067"
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"en.20050509.14.1-067"2
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"Mr President, this Parliament has a very good record as a strong supporter of the peace process in Northern Ireland and, indeed, we were strong backers of the peace fund for Northern Ireland. It is therefore natural that we are concerned that the peace process has been running into difficulty, and the McCartney murder highlights one of the reasons for these difficulties.
It is often the case that so-called ‘freedom struggles’ come to be used by criminal elements who use a political cause as a cover for their activities. The McCartney murder has shown that this is happening in Northern Ireland. As we have heard, we have the motiveless murder of an innocent man. That murder has been met by a wall of silence and intimidation little different from that imposed by the Mafia elsewhere. As peace becomes more possible, the more the criminals – the drug runners, the bullies, the extortionists – feel threatened. Frankly, we have reached a crucial point in the peace process. It will not work unless we can break the hold of the gangsters. People have to come to realise that the so-called liberators have become their jailers.
This is not a phenomenon restricted purely to the Nationalist side. It is also a phenomenon of which we are aware on the Unionist side. But the issue we are debating today is the murder of Robert McCartney, and we need to keep that issue in the public eye. That is why Sinn Féin, in particular, has to break the wall of silence so that it can set its community free.
That is why we would support the use of the budget line for aid to the victims of terrorism in order to provide finance for any civil action taken by the family – money, I hasten to add, not directly for the family but money for a court action. We have to remember that for evil to thrive it only takes good men and women to remain silent.
The results of the general election in Northern Ireland last week show that there has been a move in support of those who are opposed to the Good Friday agreement. Time is running out for the peace process and that is why we need to maintain our pressure on those responsible for the murder and cover-up because, unless we resolve this issue, the peace process will fail completely."@en1
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