View this email in your browser

Good morning John

On Wednesday evening I travelled back from Westminster and straight down to Lurgan for a tree planting ceremony in memory of Eva Martin who was murdered by the PIRA on 2 May 1974 in Clogher, Co Tyrone.  Our colleague, Education Minister Paul Givan, also marked her murder at a special Assembly in Fivemiletown College. 

We must never allow a rewriting of the past and always remind the next generation of the evils that were perpetrated against our fellow men and women. 90% of Troubles murders were carried out by paramilitaries. 

Eva’s story encapsulates so much of the Troubles. A graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, she hailed from Lisbellaw in Co Fermanagh and was the first UDR Greenfinch to be murdered in the Troubles.  A committed citizen who stepped forward in public service to face down terrorists. Whilst serving in the UDR, she had just been appointed as the Head of Modern Languages in Fivemiletown High School. In 1988, an IRA man, who later became a Garda spy in the PIRA, confessed to Eva’s murder and was convicted in Kent. 

Yesterday the Republic of Ireland’s newly elected Taoiseach Simon Harris was in Belfast for meetings with the First and Deputy First Ministers as well as other party leaders. Of course as neighbours, we want to have good relationships and work on matters of mutual concern but at the heart of that must be honesty.

The Republic has repeatedly failed to face up to the role it played in the Troubles whilst regularly being critical of the UK Government’s role.

For example, just this week the UK Legacy Act became law.  It effectively draws a line under any further Troubles prosecutions. It limits victims’ access to justice. The Irish government has been deeply critical of this law – as has the DUP.

The DUP however is consistent on this matter.  We have always argued for victims to have access to their day in court. We have opposed every corruption of justice since 1998 whereas the Irish Government, Sinn Fein, SDLP and the Alliance Party have taken a pick ‘n’ mix approach to legacy.  They all supported the early release of terrorist prisoners under the Belfast Agreement.

-       By October 1998, 167 paramilitary prisoners had been released without any link to decommissioning.

-       By December 1999, 308 prisoners had been released.

-       By July 2000, 428 prisoners had been released.

-       By 2012, the Sentence Review Commission had received 636 applications under the terms of the Belfast Agreement with 506 applications being approved.

-       According to the Sentence Review Commission, the average “life sentence” prisoners released, had served between 8 and 12 years with three of those sentenced to life, serving just two years.

This was an absolute corruption of justice yet it was supported by the same organisations who today are opposed to the UK Legacy Act.

This is utterly inconsistent and hypocritical.

The Irish Government, whilst calling for truth from the UK Government has been urged by the Courts to hold a Public Inquiry into the Omagh Bomb, yet has repeatedly refused the calls by families and others to set up such an Inquiry. Despite the bomb being planned and built in the Republic.

Indeed, the Kingsmill Massacre stands as another Republic of Ireland inconsistency. The coroner found that the attack was planned well in advance and from within the Republic of Ireland. Terrorists were able to cross the border to carry out the attack and in its aftermath we are told the Garda did not provide information because they were not asked for it. Such an approach from the Irish Republic makes a mockery of their stance today against the UK Government’s legacy legislation.

Dublin can’t ride two horses on Legacy.  They must either correct their inconsistencies and recognise truth must be told by the holding of proper public inquiries in the Republic or else they must at least leave off their hypocritical criticisms of the UK Government.

This month will mark 54 years since the infamous Dublin Arms Trial. With calls for others to be transparent, its high time Dublin accepted its role in the formation, funding and training of the Provisional IRA. Openness in relation to the Arms Trial affair would be a step in the right direction.

Self-Inflicted Migration Chaos in Dublin

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who smiled this week when the Irish Government declared they were sending 100 Garda to the secure the 300-mile border. Yes, the same border that 25,000 soldiers struggled to secure during the Troubles.

The Irish Government argued in 2018 that a single camera on the border would present a ‘real risk’ of serious violence.  How times change.

From our conversations with the Home Office, rather than illegal migrants travelling from the UK to RoI, there have been illegal migrants travelling from Dublin to the UK.

London and Dublin will undoubtedly continue their discussions but let’s be clear, whatever solution is arrived at must respect Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom.

Thank you again for your continued support.

Gavin Robinson MP

DUP Leader

Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly addressed the Annual General Meeting of the Ulster Farmers Union on Thursday.

She spelt out the Party’s support for our agricultural producers and that challenging climate change act targets must be advanced fairly and without unequal or disproportionate focus and burden on one sector alone.