Soldier F accused of murder on Bloody Sunday named in Dáil

Taoiseach told British government there can be no amnesty ‘for anybody’

Aontú TD Peadar Tóibín says ‘perprators will get away with murder’. Photograph: Collins
Aontú TD Peadar Tóibín says ‘perprators will get away with murder’. Photograph: Collins

Aontú TD Peadar Tóibín has named Soldier F, who was accused of murdering civilians on Bloody Sunday, in the Dáil on Wednesday.

Solider F was charged with the murders of James Wray and William McKinney and five counts of attempted murder in Derry on Bloody Sunday, where 13 people died and others were injured when the British army opened fire on anti-internment marchers in the Bogside on January 30th, 1972.

A 14th person died later of injuries sustained during the event. Last year it was announced that a prosecution against Soldier F would not proceed amid concerns about the admissibility of evidence.

Speaking during Leaders’ Questions, Mr Tóibín said the UK government’s plans to introduce an amnesty on Troubles-era prosecutions would ensure “there is no rule of law” and the “perprators will get away with murder” in the North.

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He said during recent debates he had made an effort on naming every single victim of the Bloody Sunday, Ballymurphy, Springhill, those outlined in Operation Greenwich and those in the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland report published on Tuesday.

“Isn’t it shocking that we know the names of the people who lost their lives, the people who were murdered, but we don’t know the names of the people who perpated those murders,” he said.

“Most people would know for example, the name of . . . better known as Soldier F, who is accused of murdering civilians in Bloody Sunday.

"Most people wouldn't know the alphabet of British Army perpetrators of murder. We need to make sure that people know their names."

The Meath West TD asked the Taoiseach what steps would be taken "to make sure that those names are known throughout the country for the murders that they have committed".

Proposals

Last July, the British government published a command paper outlining proposals that would block all investigations, prosecutions and other legal or civil actions over Troubles-related crimes alleged to have been committed either by British security forces or paramilitary groups.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he did not agree with the amnesty at all and didn't "take it as a likelihood". Mr Martin said the British government need to adhere to agreements that it had entered into in relation to the Good Friday Agreement and that he had made this point to the British Prime Minister and government.

He said there has been “too much foot dragging” in relation to agreements entered into and that a comprehensive and agreed framework was needed “to deal with the painful legacy of our past”.

Mr Martin said he has made it clear to the British government there can be no amnesty “for anybody” including for paramilitaries who had carried out crimes and murders.

Mr Martin said the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland's report which found significant investigative and intelligence failings and "collusive behaviours" by RUC officers linked to a series of loyalist murders in Belfast in the 1990s was deeply disturbing.

Sarah Burns

Sarah Burns

Sarah Burns is a reporter for The Irish Times