Madam, - As chairman of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, I must reply to Monday's letter criticising the Eames-Bradley panel to consult on the legacy of the Troubles.
Firstly, it was only as a direct result of this federation's recent vigorous campaign that all 2,800 unsolved murders from the Troubles became the subject of investigation by the PFNI's Historic Enquiries Team. The federation could not accept that the narrowly focused Saville, Finucane, Nelson and Wright inquiries - repugnant as were the events they investigated - merited the £250 million spent to date (and still climbing) while everyone else's murder file merely gathered dust.
However, it is time for all sectional and single-victim interests to accept that the current, ad hoc, politically selective investigations are simply not working, just as this federation has to accept the unsolved murders of 208 of its colleagues. The work of the Eames-Bradley panel may well offer a more broadly acceptable and equitable approach to dealing with the past and should be supported, rather than suffocated through demands for the addition of endless interested parties and over-lengthy consultation.
Secondly, the federation remains fully supportive of the principle of independent investigation of the police. Our disappointment with the present Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland lies entirely in how that office has chosen to pursue its remit. It came as no surprise to us that in setting up the same function in the Republic, studious notice was taken of our experience, presumably to avoid the prospect of similar problems of preoccupation with the past, media showcasing and a series of inactionable reports. - Yours, etc,
TERRY SPENCE, Chairman, Police Federation for Northern Ireland, Garnerville Road, Belfast 4.