THE sister of a lawyer and Ulster Unionist politician who was shot dead by the IRA has accused Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O'Neill of "fudging" condemnation of the killing.
Anne Graham's brother Edgar was murdered by gunmen disguised as students at Queen's University, where he worked as a law lecturer, in 1983.
Ms O'Neill was at the university last week to give a speech and was challenged by the victim's sister, who was in the audience.
"I have no difficulty in condemning the murders of people like Pat Finucane and Rosemary Nelson, who was at Queen’s law faculty at the same time that I was," Ms Graham said.
"To me murder is murder and how can I respect you when you fail to condemn my brother’s murder?," she added.
The Sinn Féin vice-president replied: "To Anne I would say: I am sorry that you lost your brother. I am very happy to talk to you at any stage, at any time.
"There are different narratives and I think that is the first step to actually allowing us to move forward is actually recognising that we are not going to agree.
"What guides me is genuinely being respectful and listening.... try to make sure that no young person ever has to fight the battles that we fought in the past," added Ms O'Neill.
After the event, Ms Graham told The News Letter she believed the Sinn Féin vice-president's response was a "fudge".
"She was being pleasant, she’s saying she will meet me and saying we are never going to agree on everything but she regrets every murder. But it is still a bit fudged to me, it’s still a fudge."
