Letter: Does Baroness O'Loan believe that the On The Run letters and Royal Pardons for the IRA should be annulled?

The objections from the former police ombudsman Nuala O'Loan to the implementation of the legacy bill going through parliament are probably for different reasons to those of unionists who object. Yet as Morning View points out on Monday (May 14) unionists often give the impression that they agree with her.

If the new legacy bill is flawed, then what about the present imbalanced handling of legacy? The present focus is on the security forces who killed around 10% during the Troubles, the vast majority justified. It seems victims of terror have little chance of getting justice in the present legacy arrangements unless the focus is put where it should be: on the terrorists.

Legacy arrangements that see spurious cases against the security forces at great public expense are unjust. Does Baroness O'Loan believe that the On The Run letters and Royal Pardons should be annulled, so that suspected terrorists can be brought to justice? While unionist politicians object to the latest bill, why did they continue to operate the institutions when the Blair/Labour government did a behind the back deal with the IRA? While the IRA got their OTR pardons, the British government was allowing those who protected us to be thrown under the bus by spurious claims of collusion and heavy handedness.

Something has to be done to address the imbalance of the present legacy policy, where even the killings of those who were caught in active terrorist activity are being investigated. Not to do so would be a complete betrayal of those who risked their lives for the British government to protect innocent people from barbaric terrorists.

John Mulholland, Doagh