Victims of terrorism and political leaders have criticized Northern Ireland’s prime minister-designate after she said there was “no alternative” to the IRA’s armed campaign during the Troubles.
Michelle O’Neill, the former deputy prime minister and vice-president of Sinn Féin, said the IRA had no choice but to carry out its campaign of terror until the Good Friday Agreement.
The comments sparked fury in Northern Ireland, which voted in May’s election to make Sinn Féin, the former political wing of the IRA, the province’s largest party for the first time.
Mrs O’Neill, who has promised to be a “prime minister for all”, said in a BBC interview: “I don’t think any Irish person woke up one morning and thought conflict was a good idea, but war came to Ireland.
“I think at the time there was no alternative, but now, thankfully, we have an alternative to the conflict and that is the Good Friday Agreement.”
“For 30 years the IRA was married to the bomb and the bullet, and Sinn Féin are still trying to justify it. I don’t think they will ever change,” said Colin Worton, whose brother was killed by the IRA , in the Belfast Telegraph.
“Cruel and flippant answer”
George Larmour, whose brother was shot by the terrorists, said Ms O’Neill’s comments were a “cruel and callous response and a cruel excuse for the pain, heartache and pain that was inflicted on families innocent”.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, leader of the DUP, said: “There was never a justification for violence.
“Even in Northern Ireland’s darkest days, the vast majority of our people respected democracy, the rule of law and, where they felt passionate about a particular cause, took part in peaceful protests. Sinn Féin may pretend there was no alternative, but the facts condemn them.”
The DUP lost its majority to Sinn Féin in the election but has refused to sign a power-sharing deal that would make Mrs O’Neill prime minister until London withdraws or replaces the Ireland Protocol from north
Colum Eastwood is the leader of the SDLP, which, like Sinn Féin, supports Irish reunification. He said his party, which played a key role in delivering the Good Friday Agreement, showed there was an alternative to IRA violence during the Troubles.
“The IRA murdered thousands of its own people, destroyed businesses, ruined the lives of young people by selling them a twisted ideology and set back the cause of Irish unity by decades,” he said on Friday.