Mark Borland

Members of parliament were in the House of Commons debating amendments to the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill when David Davis, Conservative MP for the constituency of Goole and Pocklington, made the comments.

He was speaking in relation to proposed amendment 51, “Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (3), no inquest may be resumed in relation to the deaths resulting from Operation Judy in Loughgall in 1987.” Mr Davis stated that Loughgall “is emblematic of many of the reasons why we should not pursue any of these inquests but should put them in their proper place with the legacy commission, which could deal with them dispassionately.”

Mr Davis went on to state that Loughgall was the “greatest single defeat of the IRA”, that they were still “sore about it” and it was for this reason that they wanted a coroner’s inquest rather than a legacy commission. Mr Davis referred to coroner’s inquests in Northern Ireland as “public theatre” and that the IRA wished to perpetuate “nonsense” in court, concluding his remarks: “That is another reason why I would rather see the dispassionate actions of the commission than the activities of IRA lawyers in the courts.”

Mr Borland said: “I am deeply concerned by this characterisation of legal professionals in the House of Commons. We all recall remarks made in January 1989 when Junior Minister Douglas Hogg claimed in the House of Commons that some solicitors in Northern Ireland were ‘unduly sympathetic to the cause of the IRA’. Three weeks later solicitor Pat Finucane was shot dead at his home. The Report of the Stevens Inquiry concluded that Mr Hogg’s comments were unjustified.

“I am therefore concerned about the impact that these comments could have on our members while tensions are currently high in Northern Ireland. Language that associates legal professionals with paramilitary organisations or associates lawyers with the views of their clients is grossly irresponsible; it risks encouraging hostility towards practitioners carrying out their professional duties and it undermines basic principles relating to access to justice and respect for the rule of law.

“Solicitors are routinely and unacceptably subject to threats, abuse and attack in the course of their work. Comments such as these make our members more vulnerable and Mr Davis should withdraw them.

“There is a legitimate debate about how best to address the legacy of the past. Stigmatising lawyers has absolutely no part in it.”

Ten legal professionals were killed during the Troubles, the first being magistrate William John Staunton in January 1973 and the last solicitor Rosemary Nelson in March 1999. The first report of The Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), published in September, found that Rory O’Kelly, shot dead in 1977, was killed for being a lawyer rather than his involvement with any particular case.

Proposed amendment 51 to the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill failed.