Prepared to take a chance for the sake of his children's future

Paul Morrissey's father suffered one of the most horrific deaths meted out to any victim of the troubles

Paul Morrissey's father suffered one of the most horrific deaths meted out to any victim of the troubles. Joseph Morrissey (52) was walking home from a club in the centre of Belfast in February 1977 when he fell into the hands of the notorious Shankill Butchers. His killers used knives and hammers to inflict gruesome injuries.Paul, who was 18 at the time, went with his two brothers to identify the body. He says the smell of the morgue haunted him for a long time."I just couldn't believe it was my father on the table. I couldn't recognise him," he says. "No one will ever know the full truth of what he suffered. That made it a lot harder."Married with two young girls aged five and 11, he lives in north Belfast, less than a mile from where his father met his killers. His youngest daughter looks at the picture of her grandfather in the book The Shankill Butchers. It will be some time before she knows the truth of his death. Paul says he has "a moral dilemma" with the early release of prisoners, but believes he has to accept it because to do otherwise would be selfish. He voted Yes in the referendum but understands why people he knows voted against the agreement because of the prisoner issue. He points out, though, that some members of the Shankill Butchers were released after serving just 12 years."If I was to say this peace process won't work because prisoners are going to be released, that's a selfish point of view. The future I would be giving my kids is the past 30 years that I have seen and witnessed. I would be handing it on to them. So I would be prepared to say `we'll take that chance on the prisoner issue'. I think you have to."I'm not talking about today. I'm talking about 20 years time. I want my kids to have a half-decent education and some chance of employment and a half-decent life, because I never had it. What right have I got to say that I am going to subject them to 30 years of what I had?"