Statement by TUV South Belfast spokesperson Andrew Girvin:
“Excluding any reference to the Provisional IRA in yesterday’s Belfast City Council event to commemorate Bloody Friday does nothing but shame the organisers. I find myself in total agreement with Ulster Human Rights Watch which branded the decision “scandalous, disrespectful and highly offensive.”
“An important function of commemorating massacres such as this is to bring home the horror of murder and ensure that upcoming generations do not suffer in the same fashion. In failing to clearly identify the culprits, Belfast City Council has failed in that duty. Furthermore, as is clear from the reaction of victims of the atrocities committed on that day that hurt has been caused to those who suffered because of Bloody Friday.
“The Commission for Victims and Survivors has questions to answer about their role in this affair. Did they seek to establish the views of victims of the bombs on the issues they were consulted on and if not why not? More fundamentally, did the Council consult the families of the victims on their views on whether the perpetrators of the massacre should be called out and whether the term Bloody Friday should be employed?
“The fact that the Commission operates to the flawed 2006 definition of victim which fails to exclude victim makers has long been a source of controversy for innocent victims of violence. The decision of the council therefore to seemingly seek their advise as an independent expert is highly questionable.”