Debate contribution: Legacy Cases: Irish Government

Debate contribution by Mrs Diane Dodds on 19 May 2026.

MLA

Mrs Diane Dodds

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

19 May 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Legacy Cases: Irish Government

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5550333

Read the official Assembly record

Text

The debate has thrown up some interesting issues. I will start by saying that I will unapologetically talk about innocent victims of terrorism. I agreed with Patsy McGlone when he said that innocent victims of terrorism, no matter where they are from, demand truth and justice. However, innocent victims of terrorism also demand something more from politicians in the House. They need and should have people in the Chamber who will not stand for the rewriting of history and are prepared to challenge a narrative that wants us all to move on and to allow the eulogising of terrorist criminals and accept it as part of the so-called peace process. There have been some interesting contributions from politicians on the issue in recent days, particularly from Sinn Féin's new-found friends in the SNP in Scotland. The First Minister, John Swinney, told innocent victims in Northern Ireland and in Scotland that we must all move on from linking Sinn Féin to terrorism. Of course, the problem for Mr Swinney and that idiotic statement is that Sinn Féin continues to eulogise the terrorist criminals who caused so much carnage and harm in Northern Ireland. I listened last night to Baroness Foster in the House of Lords. She said:

"it is difficult to move on from Sinn Féin’s dark past when it refuses to move on from its dark past and continues to glorify the violence of the IRA."

I was talking today to organisers from the South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF), which is a victims and survivors organisation. They will protest tomorrow, along with political parties in Scotland, and join like-minded politicians who will stand up against terrorism and against those who caused so much carnage in Northern Ireland and beyond. I am glad that questions are now being asked of John Swinney and the SNP. Many of the questions are being put forward by the campaign surrounding the three Scottish soldiers who were murdered and left in Ligoniel. We have been at many remembrance services for those Scottish soldiers.

I will indeed.

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. The Member is absolutely right. We have attended many commemorations of what happened to those soldiers. They have had no justice. Is the Scottish First Minister asking questions of Sinn Féin about justice for those three Scottish soldiers? Does the Scottish First Minister agree with Michelle O'Neill that there was no alternative to the violence of the IRA? The SNP should distance itself from the glorification of terrorist criminals that Sinn Féin and the First Minister regularly engage in. It is time that the United Kingdom had stronger laws to deal with hate marches in London and those who continue to glorify the murder and mayhem carried out by terrorist criminals. You cannot claim to be the "First Minister for all" but eulogise those who murdered and maimed in our community. There was always an alternative to murdering your neighbours. Of course, the motion is also about the Republic of Ireland and its failure to cooperate and give justice and information to those who were the subject of collusion or to the victims of a murderous campaign that the IRA launched from that state's territory. It will be no surprise to anyone in the Chamber that, today, in remembering those victims of violence, I will talk about Ian Sproule, a young Protestant who was shot outside his home in the village of Killen. Allegations of collusion have never been investigated. I have gone with John Sproule to Dublin and met politicians there, and they refuse to investigate and uncover the truth. It is shameful. Bobby Keys was murdered 53 years ago in an attack on a police station in Belleek. An estimated six to nine gunmen took part in that attack, and the rocket was launched from the Republic of Ireland. There has been no justice for his wife and six children. Of course, on 16 June, it will be 40 years since Terence McKeever, a Dublin-based businessman, was shot and his body dumped by the IRA, because he carried out electrical contracting work for the security forces in south Armagh. There has been no justice for Terence McKeever or his family. It is shameful indeed.

702 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Uncertain: close call Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:46 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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