Victims are shocked and saddened today by the reaction of Jeffrey Donaldson and the DUP to their genuine petition to have their concerns dealt with. In a rushed meeting at Stormont today victims were cruelly snubbed by the arrogant attitude of the DUP. Their crime appears to have been questioning whether it was wise to trust Sinn Fein/IRA. Victims asked a number of heart felt questions, wondering why issues important to them were not being addressed. They were shouted down at every opportunity and their concerns belittled by Jeffery Donaldson. In the absence of William Frazer who is with his sick mother at present, Mr Donaldson questioned FAIR’s right to speak on behalf of victims. He asserted that he could with more authority speak on victims issues since he was an elected representative. He arrogantly barracked the delegation for proof about their concerns over the dissident threat and the strategy of republicanism.

He boasted that the majority of unionists wanted to do a deal and that areas like South Armagh were not the be all and end all and that they only represent a “small part of Northern Ireland”. He said that the conspiracy theories of victims would not be used to stop a deal being done.

William Frazer said “being unable to attend the meeting due to my mother’s illness I was shocked to hear of the treatment a number of FAIR victims and staff received from the DUP. I intend to get to the bottom of this matter and be under no illusions that FAIR speaks for a large number of victims and we will not be lectured to or shouted down by any politician. Victims should be at the heart of any process and history has shown the price political parties pay for ignoring us”.

Clearly under pressure to cut a deal with Sinn Fein/IRA the DUP are intolerant of any questions. Their trust in Sinn Fein/IRA appears unshakable. So dismissive was Mr Donaldson of the victims concerns that his comments descended into a bitter personal attack on those delegated by FAIR to speak on their behalf. Members of the delegation who had attended many similar meetings with political parties over the years on equally important issues stated that they had never been treated with such contempt nor attacked in such a personal manner. It is clear today who Jeffrey Donaldson and the DUP choose to trust and choose to work with. Whilst they lecture victims on how much they have given them and done for them they appeared quite happy to give more and to do more for their killers. The final insult was to question FAIR’s right to even have an opinion on such matters. The delegation was told to go and read their newspapers and to get to grips with the reality in what can only be described as a sickening display of both arrogant and apathy.

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With all the media hype and government induced smoke screen surrounding the negotiations at Stormont many forget the facts of what is really going on. The democratic party’s on behalf of Northern Irelands citizens are being asked to negotiate with the IRA, let’s not forget that Sinn Fein could only lend support to the GFA and any discussions under the watchful eyes of the IRA army council. Evidence over the last couple of years suggests that the IRA are still a fully functional terrorist organization still recruiting and training new members. They may use names like the CIRA as flags of convenience but the use of known IRA weapons and Semtex proves beyond all doubt that the IRA is still at work. Many of its older members are now training younger terrorists and sending them out on exercises. One only has to look back over the last 36 months at the upsurge in violence and the levels of sophistication involved to see that violent Irish republicanism has far from disappeared.

The both governments know fine well who they are dealing with in these negotiations and even more worrying is the fact that so does everyone else in Stormont. That they choose to hide from us the fact that they are negotiating with terrorist threw the back door is shameful at best and corrupt at worst. Sinn Fein IRA have entered these negotiations with an entrenched position in many areas,  one example would be that the IRA in areas such as Portadown will never under any circumstances allow an Orange Parade down the Garvaghy Road, couple that with the fact that the DUP see an Orange march down the said road as a winning ticket in the next election and it’s hard to see where the middle ground is. Our view would be that Policing and Justice is a much wider issue cannot be decided on a few parades passing of peacefully.

Thankfully we are not all easily fooled by this current charade,  some of us know McGuiness and Adams are still members of the IRA council and we know who they take their orders from. McGuiness and Adams can say all they want publically but do they really expect anyone to believe them, both especially Adams have been proven to be the biggest liars and hypocrites on the face of the planet. That’s not an over exaggerated statement, just think back to all the times Adams caught telling absolute lies to anyone who will listen. A man who has the blood of men, women and children dripping from his hands and the tears of broken and smashed childhoods on his consonance cannot be trusted.

The future of Northern Irelands Policing and Justice system cannot and should not be allowed to fall into the hands of terrorists and people who’s single objective in life is to eradicate every last bastion of Britishness from Northern Ireland, if people simply let it happen then they will deserve all they get in the future. The DUP need to stand strong at this moment and show that they will not be pushed around by terrorists sending demands into Stormont threw the backdoor. Policing and Justice will be devolved but only when all those involved are fit and able to run it properly.