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The Kingsmill massacre of 10 Protestant workers in 1976 is one of the many atrocities of the Troubles - and one which was remembered earlier this month when calls were made for an apology from the Irish government for any role it had in the decades-long conflict. PA/PA Archive/Press Association Images

Column Why sorry is the hardest word

How can a government be asked to apologise for something in recent history when the full facts have yet to be disclosed, writes David McCann.

THE PAST FEW weeks has seen a raft of apologies from politicians. We have seen David Cameron say sorry for the cover-up around the Hillsborough tragedy and more recently, Nick Clegg, on his broken promise around raising tuition fees.

The sight of politicians saying sorry is nothing new, nor are the demands for public apologies exclusively directed toward the British government. However, a motion in the Northern Ireland assembly was passed last week urging the Irish government to apologise for its role in the emergence of the Provisional IRA and its lack of efficiency in pursuing terrorist suspects throughout the Troubles.

In proposing his motion, the DUP MP Gregory Campbell, argued that the Irish government played a ‘midwife’ role in the creation of the PIRA in 1970 and in order to bring closure to the Troubles an apology from the government should be forthcoming. But watching the debate in Stormont and commentary afterwards, I was poised to ask: what service at all would this debate serve for families of those who were killed by the Provos over the last 30 years?

The spectacle of politicians arguing about who was to blame for the outbreak of the Troubles and who should be apologising for events that happened more than four decades ago finally made me understand George Mitchell’s line that people in the United States know too little and people in Northern Ireland know too much. Although, considering the debate in Stormont, Mitchell could be forgiven for wanting to amend his comment to people who know too much about the version of history that suits their particular viewpoint.

“The evidence is far from clear”

Contrary to some declarative statements made in Stormont during the week, the evidence is far from clear on the Irish government’s activities during the first months of the Troubles. The scandal now known as the ‘arms crisis’ has been examined from a variety of perspectives by many different journalists and academics and very few have been able to come to any definitive conclusions as to what involvement the Irish government of that time had importing arms to Northern Nationalists.

From reading the State papers, the only thing that is clear is that level of confusion among ministers about the violence in Northern Ireland and the division between the moderates and hardliners within the cabinet about how to respond to the worsening situation in Belfast and Derry.

This level of confusion around what actually happened during this chaotic period is only compounded when politicians decades later come on our TV screens and declare as statements of fact a particular perspective of history that suits a narrative that they want to put on the last 40 years. I am not arguing that political figures have no right to comment on any historical matters but when the issues that are being debated are so recent and the issues are so contentious would it not be better for a more restrained approach. Demanding apologies from governments about past
events and starting debates which continually degenerate into a competition between which sides has the most to apologise for will do nothing to heal the wounds of the Troubles.

“Rehashing events of the past”

I have read numerous studies, looked through the archive papers during this period and even I cannot give a categorical statement on what happened during this period. Instead of focusing on conjecture and intrigue, I would suggest that politicians would better serve victims of the Troubles by focusing on the present rather than rehashing events of the past. A few weeks ago I wrote about the need to move republicanism away from its violent past in order to become relevant in 2012.

Perhaps a similar approach needs to be adopted in how we conduct debates around the Troubles. How can we expect the violent scenes that we saw in Belfast a few weeks ago a thing of the past, if politicians cannot breakout of a Troubles mindset?

Political leaders have an important part to play in helping society move on but they can only do this if they look to the future. Those political leaders who spent time on this debate during the week would be better focusing their energies on clearing the important commemorative hurdles that are still to come over the next few weeks instead of worrying about the past. In Ireland and Britain we are spending millions of euro and pounds on independent inquiries to uncover the truth about abuses and collusion.

There is little point in asking for and creating these tribunals if politicians are simply to pre-determine the outcome of them. While truth recovery is important to allow people to move on, I would submit that this task is better left with an independent judge rather than a national or provincial legislature. At this moment, sorry may seem to be the hardest word for the Irish government but any worthwhile apology can only surely be given when all the facts are on the table.

David McCann is a PhD researcher in Irish politics at the University of Ulster.

Read previous columns by David McCann>

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32 Comments
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    Mute Mary Mc Carthy
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    Sep 28th 2012, 7:56 PM

    Apologise ? If the British had stayed on their own side on the Irish sea first day there would have been no troubles !!!
    Their arrogance never ceases to amaze me …

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    Mute Nikolas Koehler
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    Sep 28th 2012, 8:11 PM

    We invited them over by asking for their assistance in 1167. I’m not saying that that’s in a y way important, just pointing out that using the far past to justify events amidst a mellinium later is a more extreme version of Basil Fawlty shouting “You invaded Poland!” at his German customers.

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    Mute Damocles
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    Sep 28th 2012, 9:30 PM

    Nikolas, would it not have been the Normans who were invited over?

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    Mute Nikolas Koehler
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    Sep 28th 2012, 9:40 PM

    Yes, but by then they had been the English Upper class for 101 years and were collecting taxes from England, so they were the English authorities. Good point though. Hard to hate the English as conquerers when even the English were a conquered nation. But, as per usual, it’s a very safe bet you knew the answer before you asked the question. The truth is, the whole concept of nationality gets problematic when you start looking at the actual history.

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    Mute mattoid
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    Sep 28th 2012, 11:04 PM

    Good point Nikolas – depending on how far you want to turn back the history clock the celts were actually foreign invaders to Ireland who conquered / displaced the beaker people in roughly 500BC.
    The beaker people themselves were also invaders to Ireland sometime after the new stone age ended.
    The concept of ‘native’ Irish is very muddy indeed when you start to look back through history…

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    Mute Brian Ward
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    Sep 28th 2012, 8:09 PM

    Maybe if the British Government explained it’s role in the importation of arms from South Africa by their agent Brian Nelson, their role in Dublin/Monaghan bombings, collusion with pedophile loyalists and the Kincora Boys Home scandal then the Irish Government might reciprocate.

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    Mute Blathín Sullivan
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    Sep 28th 2012, 7:59 PM

    The war is over but the DUP et al are sore at their Government for apologising therefore they want to try and humiliate others to lessen their pain. Plain and simple.

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    Mute Patrick Lyons
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    Sep 28th 2012, 8:13 PM

    What war? There was no war. IRA/Sinn Féin might consider mass murder war but ordinary civilised human beings do not.

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    Mute Mary Mc Carthy
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    Sep 28th 2012, 8:29 PM

    @ Patrick …. And what about the ‘mass murder’ inflicted by Britian on the Irish People for hundreds of years ? They took our land , customs , and made the ordinary people of this country mere ‘slaves’ on their own country ?
    What did you expect people to do … Sit back and do nothing and let Britian do as they liked ?
    Are all those countries who defended themselves against the invasion of the likes of Hilter mass murderers too or is it only the Irish who are not allowed to defend themselves ?

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    Mute Blathín Sullivan
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    Sep 28th 2012, 8:31 PM

    Patrick Lyons, judging from your pre 1801 avatar I would say impartial analysis would entirely alien. Therefore I think it is fair to say that it affects your credibility!

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    Mute Blathín Sullivan
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    Sep 28th 2012, 9:31 PM

    So Patrick Lyons the mass murder if done by Oliver Cromwell is to be admired and murder committed in response is to be abhorred. Such double standards illustrate the faulty logic of the most odious people on planet earth.

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    Mute Chris Kelly
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    Sep 28th 2012, 10:19 PM

    Hi blathín, as usual when Patrick is confronted with an intelligent comeback he shirks off back to the biased bigoted hole he comes from

    29
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    Mute David Barrett
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    Sep 29th 2012, 12:43 AM

    @Patrick, war is mass murder. Doesnt matter if its war between two nations or war on the streets, its all the same really, people lose their life!!

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    Mute Fergus O'Neill
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    Sep 28th 2012, 8:24 PM

    I’d consider apologising on behalf of other people’s actions to be something of a moot point. If members of the government apologised for their own lies and deceits, it would be much more meaningful.

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    Mute Chris Kelly
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    Sep 28th 2012, 10:28 PM

    Pretty sure the oppressor and not the oppressed should apologise. Why should any people’s sit back and take what the British did?No matter where they went throughout the world with their supposed imperial forces colonising raping and pillaging it was inevitable it wouldn’t be taken sitting down! Apologise my hole.

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    Mute Nikolas Koehler
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    Sep 28th 2012, 10:34 PM

    But we were also a part of that Empire that raped and pillaged the world. Maybe not by choice, but you would have found very few Irish people who would have considered themselves on the same level as the Africans during the Age of Imperialism.

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    Mute Chris Kelly
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    Sep 28th 2012, 10:50 PM

    What has that got to do with the price of butter? The irish would of held the same views and principles throughout the occupation that all of the brits invasions throughout the world be it in the african countries to the malvinas that it was wrong , unjust and that it was only a matter a time before some kind of rebellion/uprising took place of which they did

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    Mute Nikolas Koehler
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    Sep 28th 2012, 10:59 PM

    They probably didn’t. The Irish in the USA had no problem owning slaves, after all. Don’t get me wrong, life was terribly unjust for the vast majority of Irish under English rule over the famous 800 years. But life for the English peasant was almost as unjust for most of that time. I’m a socialist and a nationalist, but when push comes to shove, I’d be one the side of the underclass, the workers, and that transcends nationality. But you cannot apply this type of thinking to any people living more than 200 years ago. Better to move on rather than being bitter about the past. You can’t bring back the dead, you can only make sure that more don’t die in the future.

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    Mute mattoid
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    Sep 28th 2012, 11:15 PM

    @Chris
    The Falklands were uninhabited and unclaimed Islands when the British first landed on them. Fair point about some of their other colonies though.

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    Mute Bob groover
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    Sep 28th 2012, 11:53 PM

    AND “we dont even know what pillage is”‘

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    Mute Chris Kelly
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    Sep 29th 2012, 12:39 AM

    Well bob just for you:
    Pillage=
    Rob (a place) using violence, esp. in wartime.
    Noun:
    The action of pillaging a place or property, esp. in wartime.
    Synonyms:
    verb. plunder – loot – sack – rob – maraud – ransack – despoil
    noun. plunder – robbery – sack – rapine – loot – spoliation

    Defines what the Brits did to a T methinks

    6
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    Mute Nikolas Koehler
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    Sep 28th 2012, 9:01 PM

    I don’t think the Irish government need to apologise, and it seems a little pointless, as the apology would come from people with little or no connection to the instigators of the events hey would be apologising for. But, to be honest, I wouldn’t lose much sleep if they did and if the result was another small step in moving on, I’d be happy enough with that concession. War or not, many died who should have, who didn’t deserve to. Died on both sides and killed by both sides. Thankfully it’s over for the large part, and anything that avoids further killing is good. I’d be very interested to know how many people in this country would be OK with such a concession.

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    Mute mattoid
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    Sep 28th 2012, 11:11 PM

    Last year Cameron apologised for the actions of British forces on bloody sunday, even though he was only a twinkle in his parents’ eye at the time. The apology still meant something though and should be seen in the context of part of a gradual return to normal relations between the two countries.

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    Mute censored
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    Sep 29th 2012, 12:30 AM

    Cameron is the leader of the British Govt which does have some tenuous connection with the Parachute Regiment, and the Saville inquiry (whitewash). I don’t think that situation is comparable.

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    Mute Patrick Lyons
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    Sep 28th 2012, 8:03 PM

    In the Republic they expect everybody else to apologise but they they never apologise for anything themselves. The hypocrisy is sickening.

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    Mute Brian Mulligan
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    Sep 28th 2012, 8:19 PM

    Patrick may I ask which flag that is? I ask because I simply don’t recognise it and am genuinely interested!

    33
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    Mute Patrick Lyons
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    Sep 28th 2012, 8:24 PM

    It is called the Protectorate flag which was flown during the interregnum of 1649-1660 a period in history that I am studying at the moment.

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    Mute Stephen Gill
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    Sep 28th 2012, 8:53 PM

    This is nothing but grandstanding by the DUP. Why would a sovreign government make apologies for events that were totally outside their control. The DUP and its own dark history was one of SF/IRAs greatest recruiting Sergeants. So maybe Mr Campbell should do himself a favour and stop being such a self righteous political goon and look into how they created the monster before they point accusing fingers. We know of course their answer NEVER NEVER NEVER!!! Its all grandstanding.

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    Mute Mary Mc Carthy
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    Sep 28th 2012, 8:59 PM

    The country that’s the biggest hypocrite in the world is England as they seemed to think they had a right to take over every country they ever took a fancy to ….., India, South Africa , Falklands , Middle East and damn the citizens that lived there .

    32
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    Mute Brian Mulligan
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    Sep 28th 2012, 11:28 PM

    Thanks for replying, much appreciated!

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    Mute Colm Ó Súiligh
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    Sep 28th 2012, 8:20 PM

    Let me give it some context. This is Gregory Campbell:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTbebWrj560

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    Mute Joe Reid
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    Sep 29th 2012, 11:50 AM

    An apology to the Irish people from the present coalition government on behalf of the identical coalition government of 1973- 1977 would be appropriate . They collaborated with a foreign government in occupation of the six counties, they failed to have an investigation into the Dublin/Monaghan bombings and other incidents orchestrated by the British. They censored the voices of northern nationalists to the sectarian campaign being raged by the UDR and RUC and BRITISH SECURITY FORCED. Etc Etc Etc. disgraceful episode in this Democracy.

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