Katrina Murray

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dame Siobhain, and I am planning on being brief today. As a member of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, it gives me great pleasure to contribute to this debate and to the work that the Committee has done—the formal and informal evidence that we took and the people that we met. Even though I have friends who lost family members, it was exceptionally helpful to get that overall perspective. It is clear that the troubles affected everybody who lived or served in Northern Ireland, particularly those who lived close to the border with the Irish Republic and those who lost loved ones in horrific circumstance, whether they were innocent civilians or members of the armed services. The bus tour that we took along the border with the South East Fermanagh Foundation will stay with me for the rest of my life. I know the Secretary of State and Minister have met with many of the same people that we did and the effects will be just as clear to them. The report from the Select Committee about the action that needs to be taken is a recognition that this is probably the last opportunity we will get to try and do the right thing for those who lost loved ones, those who survived horrific attacks, and everybody who is still looking for answers. I will concentrate on the recommendation to expand the definition of a close family member. In my mind, the current Bill and the response from the Government fail to recognise the issues about many of the service personnel who lost their lives in the troubles. Those who served on the frontline in our armed services were often young; they were in their late teens and early 20s. My constituent Donald Blair, who lost his life at Warrenpoint, was 23—others were 18 or 19. They had not settled down or started families, even at a time when people married much earlier than they do now. For somebody who was killed in 1971 at the age of 18, it is exceptionally unlikely that their parents will still be alive. In some parts of the country, it is increasingly unlikely that their siblings will still be alive, and they are also unlikely to have had children or grandchildren. Those victims are remembered by their cousins and more distant relations. Certainly, in cases that I know of, it is cousins who are the ones fighting for this information. They are fighting for enquiries for information that the legacy commission should be able to provide. We owe it to them not to bar them from getting answers; we owe it to them to expand definitions.