As Northern Ireland reflects on one of the darkest chapters of its history, the Ulster Unionist Party has reaffirmed its commitment to a victims centred, justice focused approach to legacy. Speaking on the 50th anniversary of the Kingsmill massacre, where ten innocent Protestant workmen were brutally murdered and one man, Alan Black, miraculously survived, Justice Spokesperson Doug Beattie MC MLA warned against political manoeuvring that sidelines victims and called for accountability for those who carried out and directed terrorist atrocities.

Ulster Unionist Justice Spokesperson Doug Beattie MC MLA said: 

“It is sad to say that 2026 is likely to see legacy as another battleground between warring parties with innocent victims relegated to bystanders. The start of the year sees the fiftieth anniversary of some gruesome atrocities with the sectarian murder of 10 working class protestant men returning from a hard day’s work, with only Alan Black surviving having been shot 18  times, to the slaughter of the Reavey and O’Dowd’s brothers the day previously. Each should be viewed with the same grotesque disdain and those who supported, excused, justified or committed these terrible murders should hang their heads in shame.

“The Ulster Unionist Party have been clear, while any legacy process must be victims centred it must also be justice focused. It must ensure those who carried out these gruesome murders, and many others, are held to account as well as those who sent them out to perpetrate these atrocities. Tracking down those who directed terrorism, including those who now wear a suit to give them an air of respectability, should be a priority for any legacy investigation.

 “As we begin to formally interrogate the legacy bill it is important that we ensure that there are no backdoor amnesties for anyone who carried out terrorist acts or directed terrorism. To understand why, we need just look back to the last Labour government and see how they were ready to legislate to give terrorists an amnesty, at the behest of Sinn Féin, while ensuring no such amnesty would be offered to the security forces.  We don’t need the release of state papers to see how the Northern Ireland Office in 2001 was preparing the ground to deliver amnesties for terrorists. The fact that 14 Royal Prerogatives of Mercy, or pardons, handed out between 2000 and 2002, shows just how much the then Labour government was prepared to appease violent republicanism to keep Sinn Féin in the peace process.

“In some ways, the Conservative Government were no different with the Stormont House Agreement in 2015. This also had hidden amnesties which the Ulster Unionist Party identified and stood alone to oppose them. Anyone listening to the present Secretary of State, harping back to the principles of the Stormont House Agreement, should be concerned, particularly former RUC Officers.

“It is also important that we don’t fall into the trap of the ‘Victims and Survivors Order’ and allow terrorists to be given the title ‘victim’. The bill must ensure it differentiates between the terrorist and the terrorised; something the Victims and Survivors Order didn’t do. This is something our MP, Robin Swann, has pressed home with an amendment to the Bill. 

“Finally, it will be interesting to see what the reaction will be from the Irish Government if the legacy bill is amended.  Will they stand by the Joint Framework Document, or will they cut and run, sitting changes to the bill? If they do, will the UK Government finally show some backbone and hold the Irish to account with their own interstate case against the Irish?  If they do not, what we are likely to see, as we have seen over the last 12 months, is a Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland rolling over and blocking all amendments this time to appease the Irish Government. 

“As the Ulster Unionist Justice Spokesperson, I have been critical of the Irish Government and their failure to deliver anything tangible regarding legacy.  From the Kingsmill Massacre to Omagh Bombing, from the failure to conduct an inquest into the murder of Captain Robert Nairac or an investigation into the murder of Corporal James Elliott, the Irish Government have failed at every step.  Even now their much-heralded Gardaí legacy unit will not conduct any investigations into any legacy cases, and the Irish Government still have questions to answer on their policy to give terrorists amnesties post the Belfast Agreement.

“There is much discussion about the six protections for military veterans in the Legacy Bill; this is just a distraction because no protections exist and anyone with an ounce of sense can see this. The ongoing disagreement between the veteran’s community and the government is likely to come to a head within the first quarter of 2026 and to those looking on it seems the legacy bill is now in trouble.  This is not good news for victims and their families and as ever they will be used as a political football by those who argue one position or another.”