This warped moral compass is undoubtedly a barrier to reconciliation. As long as Sinn Fein continue to justify the brutal terrorist actions of the past, we will not build the shared future our people desire. Reconciliation demands honesty - honesty about the pain that was inflicted, and about the fact that no end can ever excuse murder.
The same condemnation must apply to loyalist murders. The violence that came from within my community brought grief and shame too. Every innocent life lost in our Troubles – whatever the perpetrator’s flag or justification – was a life too many.
We owe it to the next generation to break that cycle of moral distortion. When young people hear leaders perversely justify past evils, it twists their understanding of what peace and justice really mean. It damages those of us who are working to build a society where we can live side by side, respecting difference and sharing a vision for a better Northern Ireland.
Our future depends on courage - the courage to confront truth, to reject revisionism, and to build bridges. To say what was just, and what was unjust. To say who was an innocent victim, and who was a terrorist.
My hope remains that, in time, this courage will be matched by our republicans, and that together we can make Northern Ireland the best place it can be – a place defined not by the justifications of the past, but by the shared ambitions of the future.
Yours sincerely,
