Victims' relatives 'vilified', says Rosemary Nelson's brother

Victims' relatives are being vilified for demanding the truth about controversial killings linked to the security services in the North, it was claimed today.

With the authorities under pressure regarding the massive legal costs involved in a number of independent inquiries, a brother of murdered solicitor Rosemary Nelson claimed families are being isolated.

The tribunal investigating the March 1999 bombing outside her home in Lurgan, Co Armagh, is not now expected to hold public hearings until sometime next year after another delay.

"It is bitterly disappointing," said Mrs Nelson's brother, Eunan Magee.

"Delays are certainly unwelcome and the sooner we get to the bottom of things the better.

"People are questioning the need for inquiries, but I think the best way to deal with the past is to acknowledge the wrong done, so people can move on."

He added: "The most upsetting thing is these people standing up, nearly queuing up, to vilify families for wanting the truth.

"They're trying to persuade the public into believing that families are being unreasonable."

Mrs Nelson became a hate figure for loyalists after offering legal representation to the nationalist Garvaghy Road residents' group at the height of the bitter Orange Order marching dispute at Drumcree.

United Nations investigators and members of the US Congress highlighted her subsequent claims of police and Army harassment, before the 40-year-old mother of three was killed in a loyalist car bomb attack.

In 2001 the Government ordered a review of her case, plus five others, and agreed to hold public inquiries into the claims of security force collusion in the deaths.

Last week Northern Secretary Shaun Woodward confirmed £211m (€312.6m) has been spent on inquiries into the killings of Bloody Sunday (£178m [€263.73m]), Mrs Nelson (£15.2m [€22.5m]), Robert Hamill (£10.4m [€22.5m]) and Billy Wright (£7.2m [€10.6m]), with a further £60m (€88.8m) set aside.

About £10m (€14.8m) has been spent on investigations into unsolved murders from the Troubles carried out by the Historical Enquiries Team set up by Northern Ireland Police Service, with a further £24m (€35.6m) earmarked for it.

Mr Woodward defended the spending against criticisms from the Conservatives and the Democratic Unionist Party, which also cited the legacy of IRA violence.

But SDLP leader Mark Durkan today backed fears expressed by Mrs Nelson's brother that inquiries risked being undermined.

"The family of Rosemary Nelson are entitled to the full truth of the circumstances of her murder," said Mr Durkan.

"Ironically, the very people who insist that no stone be left unturned in the pursuit of law and order are now railing against the costs of this process.

"We have seen this before. But let us be clear - the problem here is with the facts and not with the costs."

He said it was the Ministry of Defence that had driven up the cost of the Bloody Sunday inquiry, and added: "The truth must out. We should not allow people to evade the truth by false concerns for costs."

British Conservative Party spokesman on the North Owen Paterson insisted his party had no issue with families involved in the current inquiries, but wanted a debate on the use of police resources.

"I am genuinely surprised about the extra sums the Government will be spending," he said.

"A considerable amount of police time is also being spent on retrospective historical work and I feel the public may become worried that current police priorities will be overlooked."

Mrs Nelson's brother said much of the spending now attributed to the inquiries was the result of failed police investigations that the government had insisted on holding prior to the latest probes.

Mr Magee said: "I think there are forces afoot to halt any inquiries.

"The family are made to feel they are guilty of trying to hinder progress towards the new future in Northern Ireland, but the most sensible way of embracing the new future is to deal with the wrongs of the past."