The Northern secretary Mo Mowlam has defended the decision of her Stormont colleague Adam Ingram, to meet relatives of the IRA men shot dead by the security forces at Loughgall, in 1987. Dr. Mowlam, said that the criticisms of the move, mainly from Unionist politicians, were unjustified.
Mr. Ingram, the Northern Ireland Security Minister, is expected to hold a meeting on Monday with relatives of the eight IRA men killed during an attack on the police station at Loughall in 1987.
The Northern Ireland Office says it is part of the consultation process following Sir Kenneth Bloomfield's report on the victims of the troubles. The announcement has drawn an angry response from unionists. The Ulster Unionist Party's security spokesman Ken Maginnis said Mr. Ingram was proving himself to be a wimp and an idiot.
His party colleague, Clifford Forsythe said the decision to meet the relatives of the IRA men, was "the most insensitive and galling yet taken by the British government during it's long term campaign of appeasement to republicanism". The Democratic Unionist Party Assembly member Paul Berry described the move as a disgrace.
