TUV Craigavon councillor Mark Russell has hit out at Unionists on the council who failed to support an amendment he put forward condemning Eames-Bradley.

Councillor Russell said:

“The motion passed by Craigavon council last night was good as far as it went. All right thinking people will, of course, condemn the £12,000 payment which will be made to terrorists and innocent victims. However, I am deeply disappointed that not a single councillor could be found to second my amendment that the report in its entirety should be binned.

“The £12,000 payment is the most offensive proposal but the logic which saw it being proposed as part of the package runs through Eames-Bradley.

“In choosing only to condemn the £12,000 payment Craigavon council leaves itself open to the charge that it has no problem with a “shared memorial” which will inevitably lead to terrorists being commemorated alongside those they murdered; a “day of reflection” which Eames-Bradley claim could be shared by those who remember their dead on 11th November and Easter Sunday when the IRA remember terrorists; the potential for the recommendations of the Legacy Commission to grant terrorists an amnesty in five years time; the role of Dublin in the Legacy Commission; the proposal that terrorist convictions should no longer act as a bar to employment and a whole raft of other issues.

“Unionists should not be short-sighted in relation to Eames-Bradley. There are many dangerous proposals in this report. I deeply regret that Unionists on Craigavon have failed to recognise this reality. Perhaps, however, what happened at the council last night revealed that Unionists are prepared to accept much of what the Consultative Group on the Past have proposed. I would warn ordinary people throughout our Province against the danger of being duped on this issue.”