Speech by TUV Strangford candidate Councillor Stephen Cooper:
“The truth may be stretched thin, but it never breaks,
and it always surfaces above lies, as oil floats on water.”
~ Cervantes
On Monday the 5th of October, I sat in PSNI Headquarters, as part of a TUV delegation with our party leader Jim Allister and Rick Cairns.
The purpose of that meeting was very clear.
In the aftermath of Kevin McGuigan’s murder by the IRA, we wanted to ascertain the motives behind the shooting, and clarify the present paramilitary potential of the republican movement.
Furthermore, in addition to the general overview and evaluation, we also sought clarification on the make-up of their military structures, an estimation of their stockpile of weapons, and whether or not they had, as alleged, brought a significant number of handguns in from Florida, courtesy of a certain Spike Murray, who the Chief Con had met the week before in West Belfast.
We also asked if the pistol used by the IRA murder squad was indeed one of the recent batch.
Repeatedly, we were told to almost all of our probing questions to the Chief Con, that he couldn’t answer anything that could prejudice the upcoming report.
At the time it seemed like a convenient defence mechanism, deflecting any request to reveal anything we could use in the media to confirm what everyone else now knows; – namely that IRASF were responsible for McGuigan’s murder, just in the same way they were responsible for the Northern Bank robbery, the callous and brutal murder of Paul Quinn, and the slaying of Robert McCartney in the city centre, to name just a few, amongst a long and shameful list of the other thousands they have murdered and maimed, after meticulous and careful planning by their so called Army Council.
The much lauded report eventually came out a fortnight later on the 19th October, and confirmed not only the existence of the IRA, but provided several ‘key judgements’;
First and foremost, ALL the paramilitaries who were active in the so called ‘troubles’ are still in existence, namely, PIRA, INLA, UVF RHC, and UDA.
2.7 Admits: ‘not all weapons were decommissioned and confirms some members have procured small numbers of firearms.’
This throws up the obvious question; if a terrorist organisation has not put all of its munitions beyond use, and is actively adding to its arsenal, then how can they be judged to be committed to exclusively democratic and peaceful means?
Worse was to come.
Point 12. IRA structures remain in place, the Army Council oversees the organisation and they continue to have access to weapons.
Point 13. ‘PIRA Members ‘believe’ the Army Council oversees both the IRA and Sinn Fein with an overarching strategy.’
This confirmation from MI5 and the PSNI was long overdue, despite protestations from Gerry and Martin that the IRA had left the stage, and big Bobby’s assertion that they had miraculously morphed into butterflies!
The cold hard facts remain, they are still up to their necks in smuggling, extortion, and of course, – murder.
Approximately an hour after the report, the DUP announced it was re-entering the executive bed with the IRA Army Council’s underlings.
The same executive bed, dripping with the blood of innocents and saturated with the tears of victims.
The smash Sinn Fein party brought shame not just to their own party, and Unionism in general; but to the very central tenets of democracy, and the protection of the rule of law in particular.
This vital precedent has now been set in stone.
It is now an indisputable fact, that an armed IRASF movement sits in the executive of Northern Ireland, directed by their Army Council, and can smuggle, extort and murder without any sanction.
I say shame on anyone sustaining such base immorality.
The recent tragic events in Paris show terrorism in its true cowardly light, the only difference between terrorism in Paris and in Northern Ireland, is merely one of scale.
ISIS and the IRA have used the same tactics resulting in the same horrific outcomes to their incessant and dogged pursuit of objectives which the vast majority of their fellow citizens have and continue to reject.
The people of Northern Ireland need the truth.
The people of Northern Ireland need justice for the victims, and punishment for the perpetrators.
The people of Northern Ireland want rid of those who continue to turn a blind eye to terrorism and the corruption of democracy.
In short, the people of Northern Ireland need the TUV.