The Five Demands

Denis Bradley teme che il lavoro svolto dalla Truth Commission possa essere cestinato dal governo con la presentazione di nuove proposte su come affrontare gli anni bui dei Troubles

“Non possiamo costruire il futuro condiviso che tutti vogliamo, a meno che il passato non venga adeguatamente affrontato”, a parlare è Alan McBride che ha perso moglie e suocero nell’attentato a Shankill Road del 1993, firmato dall’IRA.
Le sue parole tuonano se associate ai timori esternati da Denis Bradley, che insieme a Lord Eames aveva elaborato piani ambiziosi per affrontare l’eredità dei Troubles. (Scarica il Rapporto del Consultative Group on the Past)
Owen Paterson, Segretario di Stato, il prossimo anno presenterà nuove proposte su come affrontare le conseguenze del conflitto. Ma in occasione di una conferenza dei gruppi delle vittime dei Troubles, è fuoriscita la paura che tutto questo potrà significare solamente nuovi anni di odio e sospetti.
Denis Bradley è schietto: “Voglio essere molto chiaro su questo. Penso che si stia verificando una sorta di furnfanteria. Penso che non ci sia alcuna volontà tra l’IRA e la Truth Commission”. “Sono quindi arrabbiato e infastidito con l’IRA, dato che sto dalla parte del governo britannico … Io non credo che si faranno avanti (i membri dell’IRA) se Gerry Adams, non solo se si appellerà loro, ma dovrà urlare contro di loro” e aggiunge che così come con l’Irish Republican Army, dovrebbe essere critico anche nei confronti del DUP che non dimostra alcuna volontà di approfondire l’argomento.
“Credo stiano utilizzando la loro molto divisa comunità – più divisa di quella repubblicana /nazionalista – per tenere in realtà la questione a grande distanza”.
Bradley sostiene che coloro che sono coinvolti nelle violenze, tra cui molti membri dell’IRA e membri delle forze di sicurezza, non hanno alcun desiderio di rivelare il loro passato.

Articoli Correlati

• Politicians accused of failing victims of violence in Northern Ireland (guardian.co.uk)

Politicians ‘failing’ Troubles victims (Belfast Telegraph)
The Government, Sinn Fein and the DUP are all failing the victims of Northern Ireland’s decades of violence, it was claimed yesterday.
Denis Bradley, who with Lord Eames drew up ambitious plans to deal with the legacy of the Troubles, hit out after fears the Government will unveil watered-down proposals.
He declared there would be no Truth Commission and said the IRA is “leading victims up the garden path”, while the DUP is “using their divided society” to delay any probe of how and why the Troubles took place.
Secretary of State Owen Paterson will make proposals next year on dealing with the fallout of the conflict. But a conference of victims’ groups in Belfast heard fears that a weak response will consign society to further years of hate and suspicion.
But Mr Bradley said: “Let me be very clear about that. I think there is roguery going on here. I think there is no desire within the IRA for a Truth Commission and I think they are leading victims up the garden path.
“So I am as angry and annoyed with the IRA as I am with the British Government … I don’t think they will come forward if Gerry Adams, not alone appealed to them, but screamed at them.”
He added: “If I would be critical of Sinn Fein on this, I would be equally critical of the DUP, who really don’t want to know this issue — they really don’t. It’s, ‘Just let it go out there, let it float, time and tide will deal with this one’.
“I have seen nothing of any difference from that on the DUP side … I think they are using their very divided society — more divided than the republican/nationalist society — to actually keep this at a great distance.”
He claimed those involved in violence, including many IRA members and security force members, had no desire to reveal their past.
But other contributors claimed the outcome of the Bloody Sunday Tribunal, and the relative success of a special commission formed to gather evidence on finding the bodies of people murdered and secretly buried, had shown that co-operation could be secured from those involved in the conflict.
The conference heard praise for the Eames-Bradley report, but which observers fear the Government has effectively binned.
The event – The Past Is Still Present – included a wide range of victims’ groups.
Alan McBride, whose wife and father-in-law were among nine killed in an IRA bomb attack on the Shankill Road in 1993, told the conference: “We cannot build the shared future that we all want, unless the past is adequately dealt with. But I don’t believe our politicians will deliver unless they are under pressure.”