Speeches by Robinson.

“If I was in fair form, Secretary of State, I would say that is a fair answer.”

“You will accept that John Downey, the Hyde Park bomber, escaped prosecution on the basis of a letter of comfort. He was not prosecuted because of the letter of comfort. The letters of comfort were not in isolation either. They came on the back of prisoner releases, a commitment that anyone convicted would only serve tw…”

“Is that the sum total?”

“We heard you earlier in the session and we hear others outside of this room say, “We are going to protect veterans”. Is not having to travel the sum total protection for elderly veterans who fear being dragged through a prosecution process that in the end could lead to a conviction but with no time served?”

“It does not. It absolutely does not. You said that letters of comfort did not provide an amnesty and people are being prosecuted. People are being prosecuted. There was an inquiry. Lady Justice Hallett said there should be no comfort provided by these letters and they amount to nothing more than a piece of paper. But i…”

“Good morning to you all. Secretary of State, what issues remain outstanding for agreement with the Irish Government?”

“Are there any outstanding issues for agreement, or has agreement been reached?”

“Will the Irish Government’s position have progressed in relation to the Omagh inquiry from the MOU to more substantive and practical engagement with the issue of the Omagh bomb, rather than satisfying the terms of reference for a UK inquiry?”

“With the greatest respect, Secretary of State, you just read out one paragraph of the memorandum of understanding, which reiterates the frustration in all of this. It is about identifying what UK state authorities could have done to prevent the atrocity at Omagh. While you were presenting it as significant progress, an…”

“It is the same issue. The terms of reference are framed around answering whether UK state authorities could have done more to prevent the atrocity. That means that it is outwith the terms of reference as to whether the Irish authorities could have done anything to prevent the atrocity, which is why Lord Justice Horner …”

“Secretary of State, the Omagh families will be sitting there today and will have only taken from your answers that you are not doing anything to push the Irish Government to create a parallel inquiry or, through this negotiation, encouraging them to engage in a way that does not answer whether it was solely the respons…”

“That is to answer one question, but not to answer the other side of a very important coin.”

“Secretary of State, you will know that, both during our inquiry and in a lot of public commentary, there have been quite a number of comments that are deeply prejudicial and, at times, personal when considering the issues around conflict of interest. I have discussed with you in the past my frustration, it seems, at so…”

“I agree, but it is the prejudicial part of the comments that have been made and the fact that that may impinge upon confidence. You have mentioned that somebody may need to recuse themselves if there is a need to encourage confidence in the process. My fear is that unless we repudiate the prejudicial comments that have…”

“Some of that politically is very much, “An individual served in the RUC and we don’t like him. He served in the RUC, he lived in the north-west, he is a Catholic and we don’t like him”. That is the nub of some of the commentary that has been made, not by everybody. There are others that just raise perceptions around co…”

“Secretary of State, when the legacy Act was passed, in 2023, I think there were 38 inquests that were stopped. Of those, 24 really had not got going and 14 were in train but had not concluded their findings. Are we to understand that the 24 that have not yet commenced will go straight to the commission?”

“My question to you was, “Are we to assume that the 24 that have not commenced will go straight to the commission?” Not so, you say.”

“In relation to the 14 that have commenced, are we to understand that all of those will continue, or continue to the point at which the coroner has to assess a PII, and therefore they may go to the commission as well?”

“Thank you for your chairmanship, Mr Mundell, and for the opportunity to speak in this important debate. I give thanks to the armed forces of our country: those who came and served with us in Northern Ireland—people from Culloden coming to Coleraine, from Folkestone to Fermanagh, from Birmingham to Belfast and from Lond…”

“I have had the privilege of sharing time on the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee with the hon. Gentleman and the hon. Member for Gower (Tonia Antoniazzi), in the names of whom this motion has been laid. It is crucial that the Omagh inquiry gets the information it requires, and we have raised concerns about the Irish …”