Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“There is an urgent need for all parties involved in the “Legacy Forum” established by the Archbishop of Canterbury to come forward immediately and provide clarity on what has been going on. In order for any of those involved in this process to recover any credibility, we need to see the agenda and minutes of meetings.
“To establish a “Legacy Forum” and exclude the voice of victims is scandalous. How can the many innocent victims who suffered because of the Irish Government’s policy of harbouring Republican terrorists and providing them with a safe haven for decades have any faith in what emerges from a process which involved Dublin but excluded them?
“It would appear that talks have involved loyalist and republican victim makers but not their victims.
“What exactly did the DUP know about this process and when? Did they object?
“Involving Judith Thompson does nothing to add respectability to this process. Mrs Thompson had a disastrous tenure as Victims’ Commissioner, repeatedly failing to defend innocent victims’ interests or draw any sort of distinction between the terrorist and the terrorised. Her decision to allow an unapologetic IRA bomber onto the Victims Forum knowing that there was a victim on the forum who lost a baby due to an IRA bomb was unforgivable.
“There are many questions about what has been taking place within this “Legacy Forum” and as yet no answers. The people of Northern Ireland – particularly those who suffered at the hands of terrorists – deserve to be treated with much more respect than this.”