A MAN whose father was killed in the Enniskillen Bomb has said he is "disgusted" with the just announced plans by the British government to introduce a statute of limitations that will end all prosecutions related to The Troubles before 1998.
Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Brandon Lewis, made an announcement in Westminster on Wednesday which would apply to former paramilitaries and security forces alike, with the government hoping to pass the legislation in autumn.
Stephen Gault was standing beside his father on November 8, 1987, when the Enniskillen Remembrance Day Bomb exploded, killing 12 people, and he was frank in his thoughts on the matter.
"To be perfectly honest, I am totally disgusted with it," said Stephen. "If a soldier killed unlawfully, he needs to be prosecuted.
"Likewise, a Loyalist terrorist who murdered an innocent Catholic, and the same way for me with the Enniskillen case.
"You can't let perpetrators walk the streets and have no form of justice. [The] Enniskillen [bombing] now is 34 years ago, and they haven't brought anybody into a court of law to face charges."
Stephen also believes that providing an amnesty is also protecting those in power who knew about certain events during The Troubles.
He said: "I honestly think Enniskillen was a cover-up by the British government, and I've no problem saying that."
Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr. Lewis said: “It’s clear the current system for dealing with the legacy of The Troubles is not working.
“It’s now a difficult – in fact, painful – truth that the focus on criminal investigations is increasingly unlikely to deliver successful criminal justice outcomes, but all the while it continues to divide communities, and it fails to obtain answers for a majority of victims and families.
“If we fail to act now to properly address, acknowledge and account for the legacy of the Troubles, we will be condemning current and future generations to yet further division – preventing reconciliation at both the individual and societal level.”
Also speaking in the House of Commons on Wednesday, the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, said the proposals would let Northern Ireland "draw a line under The Troubles" – something Stephen strongly disagrees with.
"It's appeasement," he said. And with the chance of getting any justice or closure for victims of The Troubles now unlikely, he feels the innocent families of terrorism are the ones who are going to "lose out" due to this statute of limitations.
Stephen said this announcement is just another "stumbling block" for the victims of the Enniskillen Bomb, adding: "We deserve justice, every bit as much as anybody else."
The brother of Louis Leonard, who was brutally murdered in his butcher's shop in Derrylin on December 15, 1972, by Loyalists, was also critical of the proposed amnesty.
Ciaran Leonard said the British government is reneging on commitments put down in the Stormont House Agreement, and it is "finding a way that is suitable for them".
"The British government are just going to do what's going to protect their forces and the people in Whitehall, and they will make all of these decisions for their benefit."
And Ciaran believes that while the legislation will stop victims from finding those responsible, the more important factor is it will also stop people from finding out the truth.
"Even apart from finding those responsible, what most people want is the truth. And the mechanisms to find truth were all in the Stormont House Agreement, and agreed by all of the parties, including the British government and the Irish government."
Two further proposals include a new independent body to focus on the recovery and provision of information about Troubles-related deaths and most serious injuries.
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