Reid: We'll apologise if mistakes have been made

Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid today rejected comparisons between the deaths caused by the IRA and the security forces during 30 years of violence.

Responding to calls for the Army to apologise for the deaths of civilians Dr Reid acknowledged that people who had lost loved ones felt the same pain.

‘‘But there is no moral equivalent between the motives behind the causes of that pain i.e. the acts of terrorism and the defence of society by the armed forces of the state.

‘‘If there have been mistakes that have been made not only will the British Army apologise for them but the British Army has been attending an inquiry and scrutiny for instance Bloody Sunday which no terrorist organisation has ever been subjected to.’’

Dr Reid said that the problem of finding out the truth over what happened in Northern Ireland was that while the legislative framework leant towards demands for redress against the state, two-thirds of the victims in Northern Ireland had been killed by terrorists.

He was speaking after last night’s unprecedented statement of apology by the IRA for causing almost 650 civilian deaths throughout the troubles.

Dr Reid said the statement was a helpful move towards creating confidence that the IRA had finally ended its campaign of violence.

But he added: ‘‘I understand the misgivings that there are within the unionist community when events such as Castlereagh in Colombia or instances of targeting come into the public domain.

‘‘Ultimately the only thing that will give real acknowledgement of mistakes and of the pain of the past, that will really enshrine good intentions is the feeling of confidence that everybody can have that this will never happen again.’’

Dr Reid condemned the attempted murder earlier today of two police officers after an attack on their vehicle in Downpatrick, Co Down.

He said that the dwindling number of dissident republicans had learned nothing from the past. He added that they were still stupid enough to believe that they could resolve differences in Northern Ireland through violence.

‘‘It will not work, they do not have support, they have no strategy and I think that particularly the timing when all of us are coming to terms with the past and the deep pain caused by the past, it’s a tragedy that there seems to be a very small number of individuals who think that by repeating the past they will create a better future.’’