Aontú Bill to create a Commission of Investigation into British State Collusion passes 1st Stage in the Dáil

Aontú leader, Peadar Tóibín TD, has successfully pushed the Commission of Investigation (Collusion of British State Forces) Bill 2022 through first stage of the Dáil today.

Speaking in the Dail Deputy Tóibín said:

“We are delighted to get this important Bill through 1^st stage of the Dáil today.

“The purpose of this Bill is to provide for a public inquiry into collusion between British State forces and other groups and individuals between 1968 and 1998.

“The inquiry would investigate where the British state either committed murder, assisted in the committing of murder or prevented prosecution of certain serious offences in Ireland north and south.

“The Taoiseach will be aware of the hundreds of murders that are attributed to British State forces or happened due to collusion with British state forces.

“Cases such as the Dublin-Monaghan bombings, Bloody Sunday, The Ballymurphy Massacre, the Springhill Massacre, the murders of members of the Miami Showband, the murders of the O’Dowd and Reavey families, the murder of Denis Mullen the father of Aontú Cllr Denise Mullen.

“The shocking heart-breaking list of murders goes on and on.

“Incredibly, there has not been a comprehensive investigation into what happened and how far up the chain of command British collusion goes.

“Victims and survivors are entitled to know who did what, and who should be held responsible. Aontú’s Bill, if passed would institute an investigation to find the answers to these questions.”

Aontú Deputy Leader, Cllr Denise Mullen: “The need for an All-Ireland inquiry into the death toll of British collusion cannot be denied any longer.

“County by county, report after report, the full extent of British state-sponsored violence is becoming known.

“In the ‘Murder Triangle’ between Armagh and Tyrone, a British government-sponsored death squad made up of Loyalist terrorists, members of the British Military in Ireland and RUC officers, murdered over 120 innocents across the North of Ireland.

“In the wake of the Dublin & Monaghan bombings, the Barron Report stated RUC officers and UDR soldiers were involved in bombings, but the British government blocked the Inquiry’s investigation into the role of British collusion.

Two public inquiries in Britain concluded that British security officials were involved in the murder of Pat Finucane. A previous Police Ombudsman’s report last year, implicated the British State in 19 murders across Antrim, Derry, Tyrone and Donegal between 1993 and 1998. The evidence mounts and mounts. It is now time for a comprehensive investigation into the death toll of British collusion on our island.”

Deputy Tóibín concluded by saying that there is an urgency to get the Aontú Bill passed.

“Many of the families that have been effected are reaching older age,” he said.

“Time is running out for many to get to the truth.

“There is an urgency to this.

“This Aontú Bill would empower the Commission of Investigation to compel witnesses in the south of Ireland.

“It would have the power take evidence from people outside of the state also.

“It would have the power to consider information collected from other published state investigations from outside the southern Irish state. This evidence could help fill in key elements of the bigger collusion picture.

“If citizens or state organisations from outside of the state resist in assisting with the Commission of Investigation, political and diplomatic influence could be brought to bear to encourage participation.

“We in Aontú seek that a similar Bill would be enacted in Stormont which would greatly strengthen the ability for evidence from witnesses to be collected. We call on the Irish and US governments and the EU to put pressure on the British Government to institute similar legislation in Westminster.

“The issue of Truth and Justice is key now. The British Legacy Bill is a train hurtling down the tracks threating to reck any chance of truth and justice for thousands of people.

“The Irish government cannot stand idly by any more.

“The Irish government needs to state publicly that they will take the British government to the European Court of Human Rights if they proceed with the Legacy Bill.

“Aontú has also stated that we will name British state murderers in the Dáil if the Legacy Bill becomes law.

“We urge the Irish government to strengthen their opposition to this horrendous unilateral British actions.”