Member

I have to tell fellow Peers that reconciliation is still a long way off in Northern Ireland. Rage levels are rising, especially among nationalist youths, who are being fed a relentless diet by the media of the crimes of the security forces and the police, many years ago, as court case after court case involving police and Army veterans unfolds. We saw on Tuesday, at the funeral of Brendan McFarlane, already mentioned, a top IRA operative and convicted murderer of five Protestants and two Irish army servicemen, that a eulogy was given by Gerry Kelly. His history of bombings and other terrorist activities, including the Old Bailey bombing, is well documented, yet he is now a member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, responsible for the PSNI. It just would not happen in any other part of the United Kingdom. And he has never condemned IRA terrorism.