Lord Eames and Denis Bradley on Sunday Sequence
On tomorrow's programme, we feature an exclusive interview with the co-chairs of the , which was set up to look at how best to deal with the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. In an extended interview, Lord Eames and Denis Bradley talk about the dilemma they face in drawing up their report on the past, how they would respond if the government decided not to publish their report, the access they have been given to secret government files, and the complex ethical issues their Group must resolve before their report is published in the summer -- including the relationship between truth recovery and "amnesty" and the definition of "victim status". The interview will be aired immediatly after the 9.00am news on Sunday morning. So far, the debate in the media surrounding the Eames-Bradley commission has focused on two main issues -- whether amnesty could be on the table as a trade-off for exposing the truth about the past, and whether the Troubles amount to a kind of "war". I suspect the debate will now turn to the definition of victim status and whether members of armed groups, such as the IRA, who lost their lives, or their limbs, in the conflict should be accorded recognition as "victims". This debate is just as divisive as our recent public discussion of amnesty and war.
Comments
There should be some sort of Truth Commission. As Voltaire put it: "To the living we owe respect, but to the dead we owe only the truth". Or as the Bible puts it: "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). Trust is built upon truth, not lies and deception.
Of course, the trouble here is that people demand the truth from 'the other side' while preferring to believe their own tribal myths and propaganda. Nevertheless, the relatives of the 3,600 who died are owed explanations of why they were killed, whether at the hands of republican or loyalist paramilitaries or the state. Republicans must explain why in a war allegedly against Britain, they targeted and killed mostly fellow Irish people, and loyalists must explain why they thought they were defending 'Ulster' by killing Catholics. The state must explain why it frequently colluded with loyalists.
The organisation which actually killed most people, including 10 times more Catholics than were killed by the RUC, is the IRA, and therefore arguably it has the most explaining to do. Yet it has so far offered no expression of remorse or admission of any wrongdoing.
Everyone has their own truth and I don't think any number of commissions will change that. Besides, it's not in the interests of any of the perpetrators to come out and admit what they did. They have too much to lose (like ministerial posts in our illustrious executive!)
The new film will be released in the summer “The Fudge maker and his Apprentice” starring Robin Eames in the lead role and Denis Bradley in the main supporting role, the film will be financed by the British Government.