Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“It is grossly insulting to the victims of IRA terrorism that the Irish Prime Minister should open the West Belfast Festival given the nature of the event. Austin Stack, a man who speaks with enormous authority on the issue, has rightly highlighted the fact that the program will include an event entitled The Great Escape, celebrating an escape by convicted terrorists in which a prison officer died.
“An event which commemorates and celebrates a terrorist ‘success’ in this fashion is sick and insulting.
“Once again the concerns of victims have been forgotten about.
“Another item on the program – Guerrillas to Government – gives yet more evidence of the nature of this festival and should cause any Unionist, who believes that a return to the same old Stormont structures would solve any of Northern Ireland’s problems, to pause for thought.
“The Irish Prime Minister needs to stop and reflect about the nature of the events he is lending credibility to by launching the festival. It would do no harm for the Irish Government to, for once, think about the concerns and feelings of innocent victims.
“Seeking to balance such tawdry behaviour with a visit to Orange HQ does not detract from the pro-Sinn Fein road he is treading in West Belfast.”