Debate contribution: Paramilitary Groups: Transition from Violence and Crime

Debate contribution by Mr Phillip Brett on 10 March 2025.

MLA

Mr Phillip Brett

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

10 March 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Paramilitary Groups: Transition from Violence and Crime

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4841642

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I am conscious that tomorrow is international day for the remembrance of innocent victims. My party has always and will always put victims — innocent victims — at the centre of how we approach the legacy of our troubled past. As a representative of North Belfast, I see daily the destruction that was caused to the community that I am proud to represent. However, I also see daily people from all sections of our community who have stepped forward to show a clear leadership role. Engagement in paramilitarism five years ago, 25 years ago or even 40 years ago was completely wrong.

Sometimes when I drive to this place, I think that I am in a parallel universe, not just because I still find it bizarre that people voted for me but more so because I come here and take lectures from some political parties in the Chamber. The greatest corruption of justice and the greatest insult to victims of terrorism here in Northern Ireland was the early release of prisoners. So, let me be very clear. I will not sit here and take lectures from any political party about the impact of terrorism or how we approach the past. When political parties decided that the price for peace in Northern Ireland was that those who had maimed and murdered their neighbours, based on the fact of their religion or their political belief, could be released from prison, they lost any moral authority to speak about the issue of our past.

I will happily give way.

You are very much entitled to your opinion, Ms Bradshaw, but it is my opinion and the opinion of my party that your party's decision to release terrorists from jail was an absolute disgrace and that you should be ashamed of yourselves for doing it. I will get back to the remarks that I was making on the motion. It is like being in a parallel universe to hear other Members speak about the past when, in recent days and weeks, the most heinous of crimes that were carried out in my constituency of North Belfast continued to be glorified. We wonder why paramilitaries and those engaged in disgraceful behaviour continue to be engaged in it. They turn on their television and see their self-proclaimed First Minister for all say that there was no alternative to mayhem and murder. They look at the leader of Sinn Féin in the Irish Republic, who says that a man who blew up a 17-year-old girl was a hero and a patriot of Ireland. What type of message does that send, and where were the remarks from the Chair of the Executive Office Committee, who has just stood up to challenge me on this issue? There was not a single remark about the actions of Sinn Féin, but, because it is a unionist who speaks, seemingly, that is when the Alliance Party attacks. So, I will not take any lectures whatsoever from the Alliance Party on the issues of dealing with the past.

I will happily give way.

I believe that what brought peace to Northern Ireland was the fact that the vast majority of people from all communities and none, every single day, Danny, got up and said that terrorism was wrong, not like the people who continue to glorify terrorism. The people who were put in jail for murdering our neighbours and friends should still be in jail. If it were not for the actions of your political party and others, they would still be in jail where they belong.

So I will not take any lectures on these issues. Returning to the motion —.

I appreciate that ruling, Mr Deputy Speaker. Day and daily, across North Belfast, our communities continue to move forward, and I will continue to stand with anyone of any political persuasion and none who wants to move our community forward. Anyone who is engaged in paramilitarism or illegality should be brought before the courts and placed in jail. That is the clear position of this party, and it should be the position of all parties that are represented in the House. The Communities in Transition programme, as other Members have outlined, is an important programme that we should all support, and I call on the Justice Minister and the Executive Office to look at how we extend that in North Belfast. It currently covers just Ardoyne and New Lodge, and the pariah of paramilitaries extends far beyond those two communities. Our party will support the Ulster Unionist amendment. I believe that it encapsulates the importance of the debate that we continue to have. However, let me very clear. These Benches will take no lectures on the past from those who corrupted the past and who, day and daily, insult the memories of innocent victims right across Northern Ireland.

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

Assessment

Qualifying Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:07 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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