“And while there are very different and often conflicting perspectives of the causes of conflict, conflict is thankfully now a thing of the past. “There is nothing to celebrate in conflict or in our difficult and painful past, but to commemorate those we have loved and lost is a right which everyone, including every single one of us gathered here today, is entitled to, and we do so with dignity and with pride. “And I will defend, without hesitation, their right to do so. He added: “As you know, I was eight years old when two gunmen burst into my family kitchen and shot my father 14 times, and my mother once, in front of me and my brother and my sister.

“This of course is a right that should apply without prejudice to every section of the society which we now live in today.” “And it is for those very basic human reasons that we should always cherish our right to remember those who are no longer with us. “Such basic and understandable human reactions to loss are no different here in south Armagh than in north Belfast, or indeed anywhere else. “It raises feelings of sadness and loss, as well as pride and joy at the lives that were lived and lost. “Remembrance is a time of mixed emotions for us all, especially for those who knew and loved the very people who are being remembered,” he said. He said he stood in solidarity with the families gathered to remember their loved ones and their “sacrifices and contributions”.

The republican party said the event has been held for 13 years and asked why it has not prompted such a reaction in the past.įinucane began his speech yesterday afternoon by thanking organisers for the invite. Sinn Féin has accused the DUP of whipping up a controversy to distract from the party’s role in the ongoing political impasse at Stormont. The North Belfast MP’s solicitor father Pat was gunned down by loyalist paramilitaries inside the family home in north Belfast in 1989.įinucane’s decision to address yesterday’s event, which was billed as the South Armagh Volunteers Commemoration, prompted anger from victims’ representatives and rival politicians who cited the many murders perpetrated by the IRA’s South Armagh unit during the Northern Ireland conflict. SINN FÉIN MP John Finucane said the right to commemorate the dead must apply to every section of society as he addressed a controversial IRA memorial event in Co Armagh.įinucane, who faced calls to rethink his attendance at the commemoration in Mullaghbawn in south Armagh, spoke of his father’s murder during the Troubles as he stressed the importance of remembering lost loved ones.

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