Sinn Féin mayors and council chairs are to take part in tree-planting ceremonies and civic events next month in memory of those killed in all conflicts, it emerged today.
The party confirmed its plans for a day of reflection in five council areas on December 10th, coinciding with International Human Rights Day.
However its plans were attacked by Democratic Unionist MP Mr Gregory Campbell for equating IRA members killed during the Troubles with their victims and the dead of other wars.
The chairs of Omagh and Strabane councils Mr Sean Clarke and Mr Jarleth McNulty are to take part in tree-planting ceremonies in Omagh and Strabane on December 10th. The Mayor of Derry, Mr Gearoid O hEara and council chairs in Magherafelt and Fermanagh, Mr Patsy Groogan and Mr Gerry McHugh, will hold civic ceremonies.
In a joint statement the mayor and council chairs said they were planning events which valued all experiences of conflict equally.
"The 'Day of Reflection' events are not intended to replace the existing commemorative events but are underpinned by a desire to provide civic leadership with the aim of promoting reconciliation and equality," their statement insisted.
Unionists, however, have accused Sinn Fein of devising the day of reflection as a mechanism for its mayors and council chairs to avoid attending Remembrance Day events.
Councillor McHugh today claimed the day of reflection was an authentic tribute to all who have lost their lives as a result of war and conflict and to all those who still lived with the pain and memory of that loss.
"The Day of Reflection will serve as a means of reflection and recognition of the suffering of everyone who has been affected by war and conflict in and from County Fermanagh, and that there is a need to have their experiences validated and recognised," he argued.
The plan was dismissed, however, by East Derry MP Mr Gregory Campbell.
The former Stormont Regional Development minister said: "It is now clear that plans for a day of reflection are nothing more than a Sinn Fein/IRA orchestrated campaign to ensure that dead terrorists are remembered on the same level as those who gave their lives in the cause of freedom and those murdered by the IRA over the last 30 years.