The launch of a black ribbon campaign to highlight allegations of state collusion in murders during Northern Ireland's Troubles has been described as an insult to all victims.
Nationalist SDLP Assembly member Declan O'Loan has criticised Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams for being one sided after Mr Adams urged people to take part in the black ribbon ‘March for Truth’ in Belfast this Sunday.
The North Antrim MLA said that sensitivity was needed in any event marking Northern Ireland’s past and that ‘deep wounds are present and they are made worse by inappropriate forms of commemoration or campaigning’.
Mr O’Loan also accused Sinn Féin of ignoring ‘the massive responsibility that the Republican Movement itself has for the death and destruction of the past.’
Republicans from across Ireland will don black ribbons during Sunday's march in Belfast, highlighting their call for truth about alleged security force involvement in loyalist paramilitary killings.
These include the 1989 loyalist Ulster Defence Association murder of solicitor Pat Finucane and the decision by the Public Prosecution Service not to charge anybody following Lord Stevens' inquiry into the death.
Earlier this summer, former Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain announced an independent panel, including former Church of Ireland Archbishop Lord Robin Eames and former Catholic priest Denis Bradley, to debate ways of dealing with more than 3,000 unsolved murders.
Mr Adams yesterday called for an independent truth commission involving international experts to examine Northern Ireland's Troubles and insisted it should treat all victims equally.
