Opinion

Analysis: Brutally honest account of IRA border campaign sparks criminal investigation

The book by former Official IRA man Michael Ryan is now subject to criminal investigation.
The book by former Official IRA man Michael Ryan is now subject to criminal investigation. The book by former Official IRA man Michael Ryan is now subject to criminal investigation.

There is no doubt that effectively dealing with legacy has been one of the biggest failings of the peace process.

The ad-hoc method of litigation, inquests and historical investigations has failed almost all victims.

More recently a campaign, started by backbench Tory MPs, has sought to draw a line in the sand for future investigations into state killings.

A statute of limitations idea has been around for several years now but has slowly built momentum, with recent prosecutorial decisions against former soldiers adding to the political pressure at Westminster.

MPs in favour of an amnesty point to the passage of time and the age of both those arrested as a justification for any future amnesty.

With most of the disputed killings currently under investigation having occurred in the 1970s that argument is one that is not lost on victims, who point to the length of time they've waited for justice.

With each year that passes the chances of a successful prosecution fades.

Most victims realise that they have little chance of judicial justice and instead many have asked for truth and recognition of the harm done.

Take that back even further still to the 1950s and it seems almost impossible to believe that enough evidence could be gathered for a prosecution.

Even if it was would any person accused be deemed medically fit to stand trial?

The IRA border campaign of the 1950s was a shambolic series of events that was in the end abandoned as a "hopeless cause".

Those involved went on to hold positions of influence either in the Official IRA or for some a move to the Provisional IRA.

It is a time in Ireland's bloody history that is worthy of revisiting and analysing in the context of both past and current violence.

There will always be republicans who feel it is their right to carry on with armed conflict regardless of what that may or may not achieve.

Those involved in previous periods of conflict have a duty to be honest about what they did or did not achieve and not romanticise that for a new generation.

Mick Ryan's book is brutally honest, sometimes shockingly so.

That his account of those events almost 60-years ago could has now become a criminal investigation will be welcomed by some and criticised by those who feel that a safe space should be created for truth recovery.

While this is an usual event as long as we continue without an approved legacy mechanism is be one that is bound to be repeated in the future.