Back in October, 2021 Belfast Victims Campaigner Raymond McCord wrote this in the Echo: "My name is Raymond McCord from North Belfast. On November 9, 1997, Protestant terrorists (the Ulster Volunteer Force) working for the Special Branch murdered my oldest son Raymond Jr., aged 22 - and the State believed they had covered it up.
"Raymond has yet to have an inquest almost 24 years later. The Prime Minister also wants to abolish inquests. You can see why. My family is Protestant and from the unionist community and because I exposed the names of the murderers and that they were proven to be working for the security agencies they, the UVF, made many attempts to kill me as well.
"My fight for justice for young Raymond continues with not only the UVF and the security agencies but also with Boris Johnson and the British government who have brought shame and ridicule to our justice system throughout the world by appeasing terrorist organizations in their pay. They have decided murder by terrorists will no longer be a crime."
Given this tragic backdrop to his family's story it was no surprise that Raymond McCord raised his reluctantly prominent and courageous voice in support of the Irish government's recent decision to take an interstate case against the British government over its so-called legacy and reconciliation legislation, a piece of work which just about everybody in Northern Ireland views as being a whitewash of distinctly inconvenient history.
"Raymond has yet to have an inquest almost 24 years later. The Prime Minister also wants to abolish inquests. You can see why. My family is Protestant and from the unionist community and because I exposed the names of the murderers and that they were proven to be working for the security agencies they, the UVF, made many attempts to kill me as well.
Stated McCord: "Today's news that the Irish government is taking a case against the British government to Europe over the Legacy Bill will be welcomed by the victims and their families. The shameful Legacy Bill is a Bill to hide the truth over the British government and its security agencies' hands in thousands of murders during the troubles.
"Anyone in Northern Ireland who condemns or criticizes the Irish government over their action is no friend of victims. The Conservatives showed that not only do they not care about justice but they also treated the entire population of our country with contempt with such an abuse of human rights.
"We all should thank the Irish government for taking the case to Europe. Unionists and Nationalists victims have been given hope by the Dublin government in our quest for truth and justice. This challenge is not orange or green but the beginning of the end of the Bill which we have fought so hard to stop. Thank you Mr. Varadkar and Mr. Martin."
Suffice it to say, this page concurs with Raymond McCord in 2021, and Raymond McCord in 2023/24.
