The previous victims’ commissioner for Northern Ireland, Judith Thompson, has urged Sinn Féin to issue an apology approved by the families of those believed to have been informers who were executed by the IRA. This comes as a response to an earlier apology offered by Michelle O’Neill, the Northern Irish leader of Sinn Féin. Although Thompson perceives this as a step towards the right track, she highlighted the necessity of the party to clarify what they are apologising for.
Thompson’s remarks followed the interim reports of Operation Kenova, an investigation into 101 cases of murder and kidnapping associated with the Provisional IRA’s “nutting squad” – a unit held responsible for the interrogation, torture, and elimination of suspected informers to the British security forces during The Troubles.
The Kenova report suggests that the republican leadership express regrets to relatives and victims of the IRA’s internal security unit (ISU), as well as the targets of related intimidation campaigns.
Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Féin’s head, expressed feelings of “sorrow and regret” for all those affected by the Northern Ireland conflict.
Thompson, while speaking on BBC Northern Ireland’s Sunday Politics show, stated that offering a meaningful apology involves being specific, agreed by the implicated families and delivered in a manner, time and place they deem significant, a sentiment which Mary Lou McDonald’s expression of regret has not met.
She further emphasises the importance of transparency and acknowledgment in forgiving an apology, wherein the investigative facts are understood, and the reasons behind the apology are explicit. Thompson commended the report’s findings for being “clear and unequivocal” for victims.
The revelations of the report confirm the unfair treatment the victims experienced, according to Ms Thompson, giving credibility to their claims while drawing attention to the trauma and injustice they underwent. The report further urges the UK government to express regret for the negligence of security forces operating with an inconsistent approach to agent management and intelligence processing.
There is an inherent need for a formal apology from the UK government as the report states, which Ms Thompson believes is of paramount importance to the aggrieved families. She highlighted their experiences of stigmatisation, isolation, and harassment, often within their own localities and by the actual individuals behind the crimes, underscoring the devastation of their experiences.
Ms Thompson stressed the significance of recognition and validation of their situation in the eyes of the victims, whose desires for recompense vary. However, the focus on acknowledging the truth and the acknowledgment of the wrongful acts committed against them emerge as key themes in the report. This report is a move towards these ends, with the call for apologies playing a significant role.