Statement by TUV South Belfast spokesperson Andrew Girvin:
“Today’s event organised by Belfast City Council to mark a “day of reflection” to “acknowledge the hurt and pain” of 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland may seem laudable and I have no doubt that many of those who took part did so with the best of intentions. However, it is important to note that the concept of a shared day of reflection on 21st June is not apolitical.
“One should remember that the idea of making this an official event was first floated in the Eames-Bradley Consultative Group on the Past report. At the very heart of that report – and indeed the “”shared day of reflection” – is the idea that all those who suffered as a result of the violence which blighted our Province should be remembered in the same way. No distinction is drawn between the terrorist blown up by his own bomb and the innocent shopper who lost their life at the hands of terrorists.
“The failure to make this vital moral distinction means that a shared day of reflection is, as far as I and my party are concerned, inappropriate. TUV will never accept that all those who lost their lives during the terrorist campaign were the same. There is a fundamental moral distinction between someone who went out with the intention to murder and the innocent victim who was caught up in an incident through no fault of their own. I am surprised and disappointed that no one sought to highlight this issue on the council before the event was agreed.
“The day of reflection entrenches flawed notions about victims which flow from the flawed definition in the Victims and Survivors Order. Those who care about truth and genuine victims need to continue to push for the changing of this.”