Sinn Fein stance on Troubles pension condones atrocities which created victims, says Omagh Bomb relative

By Q Radio News

A victims campaigner who lost her brother in the Omagh Bomb has spoken out after Sinn Fein criticised guidance published around pensions for victims of the Troubles.

Speaking on the anniversary of the atrocity Clare Monteith, whose brother Alan Radford was killed and her mother seriously injured, slammed Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill for her “deluded, warped perception of reality”

“The intransigence of Sinn Fein’s refusal to accept fact, is nothing short of glorification of terrorism. They equate murderers and torturers to those who suffered at their hands.

“After years of governments tolerating this stance in an effort to appease Sinn Fein, I am more convinced than ever they are striving to cheapen the word ‘victim’. It’s is now abundantly clear who is holding up this process and the fact they are permitted to do so is a shameful reflection of our government.

“Sinn Fein are doing what they have always done and got away with – equating the honest and innocent with murderers. While it may suit their bitter agenda, it is deplorable.

"According to their fabricated logic, pensions for real victims is discrimination, which is a nonsense in itself. Under what law is a perpetrator rewarded for their deeds?

“Members of Sinn Fein recently voiced condemnation of the Omagh Bomb, but that has been decimated by this latest strike. Blockage of pensions for the innocent demonstrates their long-held true belief.

"Their stance condones all terrorist activity, including the Omagh Bomb, while seeking what amounts to compensation for the murderous activities of the Troubles campaign. Michelle O’Neill’s latest utterances, skewed to her own agenda, indicated a deluded, warped perception of reality.

“Sinn Fein are so festering with hatred they want to twist the knife ever further into the innocent. The Government must face down this long-drawn out attack on victims once and for all.

"There has been far too much time wasted worrying about upsetting Sinn Fein sensitivities. Little thought is given to victims, who continue to be degraded by this constant barrage of attempts to be categorised with victim-makers.

Claire concluded: “Victims pensions have been batted back and forth for too long and it appears Sinn Fein are quite content to keep the ball in the air. That translates as a spiteful desire to continue causing as much pain as possible to the innocent, many of whom have been denied justice and now denied recognition for what they endured at the hands of terrorists.

"If Sinn Fein was really so perturbed, they would finance pensions for terrorists themselves and stop holding everyone else hostage to their venom.”