Sir, – Brian Rowan's article ("Northern Ireland's violent past remains unresolved", Analysis, January 16th) was a gloomy read, and his view is not borne out by the lived experience of many bereaved families in Northern Ireland, including my own.
He contends that no party to the conflict, state or paramilitary, will be frank and honest with any new truth-recovery mechanism.
Despite an almost total lack of co-operation from the RUC and its successors in the PSNI, however, my family has been able to discover much of the truth that lay hidden for years behind my father’s murder in December 1975.
We now know he was killed by a gang that included at least one serving RUC officer and a member of the Ulster Defence Regiment. These revelations, however painful, have at least accorded my family the respect and dignity that the truth confers.
I am now a case worker with the Pat Finucane Centre and have accompanied many other families along the long and winding road towards truth, seeing for myself the benefits it brings both to individuals and the wider community.
It is absurd to say it is impossible to investigate any incident unless you have the full co-operation of potential perpetrators.
The families of the ten Protestant workmen shot dead at Kingsmills in January 1976 now have ballistic information, reported by the Historical Enquiries Team, linking the IRA to the killings, despite its lack of co-operation.
The families of the 14 Bloody Sunday dead now know far more, despite the Ministry of Defence’s failure to co-operate.
The families of the 120 other victims of the same “Glenanne Gang” that killed my father have also discovered much about those responsible.
No-one knows, or can know, before any truth-recovery mechanism begins work where it will lead. No-one can tell in advance what level of co-operation a robust and dynamic process will receive from state forces or from the paramilitaries.
Uncertainty about the future has been endemic throughout the peace process, but no reason to stop trying.
Concerns about a possible refusal by the IRA or the various loyalist groups to assist families should foster greater efforts – not abandoning the mechanisms set out in the Stormont agreement.
As the great Welsh critic and writer, Raymond Williams, wrote: “To be truly radical is to make hope possible, rather than despair convincing”. – Yours, etc,
ALAN BRECKNELL,
c/o The Pat Finucane Centre,
Armagh.