British legacy body ‘spookfest’ condemned

Republican Sinn Fein have condemned the recruitment of an infamous former RUC police commander and four other ‘intelligence officers’ to run the British government’s ironically named ‘Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery’.

Peter Sheridan (pictured), former RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) commander, is to oversee the investigation of historic cases of British state violence and collusion for the ICRIR.

He is overseeing the recruitment of new ICRIR officers with a knowledge of ‘Northern Ireland terrorism’ and of the computer operating systems used by the RUC Special Branch (now PSNI C3).

The recruitment of members of state security agencies to take part in new legacy processes has been condemned as a “‘spookfest” designed to advance a British agenda.

State forces have been linked to collusion, including the murder of Catholics and nationalists, by various Police Ombudsman and other reports.

In recent months several inquests had to be abandoned after state bodies, including the PSNI and MI5, withheld vital information from coroners.

Mark Thompson, of Relatives for Justice (RFJ), said the recruitment process places the British government in control of information.

“The British government hold all the cards; they determine who internally within the ICRIR gets access to intelligence and what is permitted to be released,” he said.

Mr Thompson added that those “who have been to the forefront in thwarting ombudsman investigations, inquests and civil cases” would be in a good position to apply for the posts.

“It’s a spookfest that will most definitely not serve the interests of accountable justice.”

Last week RFJ urged families not to engage with the “ICRIR and to await the outcome of the British general election in order to maximise this opportunity in the broader interests of all victims”.

A spokesperson for Republican Sinn Fein in north Aermagh expressed the party’s solidarity with victims’ families .

“Relatives and survivors continue to believe that the ICRIR is part of British government attempts to shield State participants from accountability,” they said.

“Sinn Féin Poblachtach, along with victims, survivors, and their families have not a scintilla of faith in a process that recruits from and is managed by a former member of an organisation which has been judged to have not only colluded but have themselves been guilty of serious crimes up to and including murder.”

Urgent Appeal