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British deny murdered lawyer any justice

Monday, 22 February 2010

On March 15,1999 human rights lawyer Rosemary Nelson was murdered outside of her home in Lurgan because she successfully fought British injustice.

In the ensuing 11 years, the British Government has dissembled, conducted an inquiry and waged a campaign of delay and obfuscation. What this Government has not done is seek the truth. Ms Nelson represented causes and individuals unpopular in Northern Ireland - nationalist residents subject to Orange Order harassment, scapegoat defendants falsely charged with terrorist offences and citizens alleging police abuse.

As a consequence, she was subject to threats and vile slander - some emanating from identified members of the RUC

Rather than protect Rosemary Nelson, officials of the British Government failed to take responsible action and allowed a climate of hatred and imminent violence to fester. Sadly, this led miscreants to plant a bomb that took Ms Nelson's life .

As the 11th anniversary of this sad day approaches, one can only conclude that, in the case of Rosemary Nelson, British justice has not only been delayed - it has also been denied.

EDMUND LYNCH

Denville, New Jersey

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Al because the police actively investigated and I assume tried to prosecute, some how doesnt seem the cas for Rosemary

Posted by Sean | 23.02.10, 16:08 GMT

Edmund, in 1983 the IRA murdered Edgar Graham a law lecturer from Queen's University. He was a lawyer, therefore why aren't you writing a letter criticising his murder by republicans? For your information most of the deaths in the troubles since 1969 were caused by republicans. Please keep your totally biased republican comments to yourself.

Posted by Al | 23.02.10, 12:14 GMT

Euskal,

At no point did I claim that there were no innocent republican victims, after all, the UVF, UDA, et al, were equally vile and cowardly as their counterparts in the IRA.

However, what irritates me, and what I was seeking to highlight with a healthy dose of sarcasm, is the way in which republicans and their cheerleaders in the US constantly seek to play the victim card.

Unionists have Sinn Fein telling us to move on and to forgive what was done in the past. However, these acts of moving on and forgiveness only seem to apply to British casualties, as every week there seems to be yet another call for inquiry into republican deaths.

If republicans really want to us to move on and put the past behind us, then it is incumbent upon them to do the same. Ultimately, all these inquiries achieve is the re-opening of old wounds.

Posted by Richard | 23.02.10, 11:05 GMT

Funny how all of you asume (and attempt to mock) the writer is an American, and not say, an expatriot from Ireland much like myself and 15 million others. Ignorance such as yours is one of the reasons I left.

Posted by sean | 22.02.10, 23:20 GMT

Good man Richard, the only victims were those from the Unionist/Loyalist side, anyone else was a victim of their own misfortune.

Anyone who suggests otherwise must surely be part of a huge Irish conspiracy.

Posted by Euskal Herria | 22.02.10, 17:23 GMT

If you want to know what's going on in a place, ask someone who doesn't live there but has a dewey-eyed, sentimental vision of the land
of his forebears.

Posted by russell | 22.02.10, 15:49 GMT

Rosemary Nelson, like everyone else in NI, deserves justice in life or in death. The rule of law should apply equally to every person and every organisation, there should be no exceptions.

Posted by WH | 22.02.10, 12:15 GMT

How refreshing to see such a well-balanced assessment of the situation by a clearly unbiased American "expert" on Northern Ireland.

Edmund, you're absolutely right, the only bad guys in Northern Ireland were on the Orange side and the Nationalists were heroic freedom fighters and not vile and cowardly terrorists, who murdered innocent women and children. Anyone who suggests otherwise must be part of a huge British conspiracy.

Posted by Richard | 22.02.10, 11:00 GMT