Opinion

Search for truth and reconciliation must continue - The Irish News view

A number of republicans and loyalists have made their own sincere attempts to deal with the past, and we have reported two striking interventions by former members of the British Army this week

Since meeting in 2006, Richard Moore and Charles Innes have become close friends, working together to promote Mr Moore's Children in Crossfire charity.
Since meeting in 2006, Richard Moore and Charles Innes have become close friends, working together to promote Mr Moore's Children in Crossfire charity
By The Irish News

Since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, there have been regular suggestions that Ireland, north and south, would benefit from an initiative based on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) launched in South Africa two years earlier.

The TRC, which was authorised by Nelson Mandela and chaired by Desmond Tutu, was largely regarded as a success, as it helped to bring a sense of healing to a country which remained bitterly divided in the post-apartheid era.

However, there was never a consensus on the form an Irish equivalent might take, and a range of attempts to move the debate forward were surrounded by disputes and ultimately failed to make significant advances.

By far the most credible was the Eames-Bradley report of 2009, which ended in frustration but even today still has the potential to be revived, while the worst by a distance was the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act of 2023.

It was disastrously flawed at every level, and opposed by all the main Stormont parties, although it was forced through Westminster by the last Conservative government before the incoming Labour administration promised to repeal it.

Former paratrooper Matthew Innes, who has recounted his time in Belfast during the early days of the Troubles in a new memoir.
Former paratrooper Matthew Innes, who has recounted his time in Belfast during the early days of the Troubles in a new memoir

A number of republicans and loyalists have made their own sincere attempts to deal with the past, and details of two striking interventions by former members of the British Army have also been reflected in this newspaper over recent days.

Matthew Innes is releasing a book next month entitled A Paratrooper’s Journey, which sets out his experiences while serving with the deeply contentious regiment in west Belfast during the early 1970s.

Mr Innes said many of his colleagues were good and honest individuals, but others, led by poor officers, went “rogue” and were “psychopaths” who were responsible for killing innocent civilians.

The honest testimony of Matthew Innes and the public gesture of regret from Charles Innes have both made a strong contribution to the search for progress and understanding

It has also emerged that Richard Moore, the founder of the Derry-based Children in Crossfire charity, who was left blind after being struck by a rubber bullet at the age of ten, has been invited to deliver the eulogy at the funeral of the British soldier who fired the weapon, should the latter die first.

Charles Innes, who is believed not to be related to Matthew Innes, was introduced to Mr Moore more than three decades after the 1972 incident, and the two subsequently developed a close friendship.

The honest testimony of Matthew Innes and the public gesture of regret from Charles Innes have both made a strong contribution to the search for progress and understanding and, in the absence of any official structures, it would be commendable if others linked to all sides in the conflict felt able to take similar voluntary steps in the years ahead.