Billy Wright Inquiry report: Sinn Féin responds

DUP MP Willie McCrea with unionist death squad leader Billy Wright

THE report of the inquiry into the killing in Long Kesh in 1997 by INLA prisoners of Billy Wright, leader of the Loyalist Volunteer Force unionist death squad, was published today. Sinn Féin Assembly member John O’Dowd said afterwards:

“It must be remembered that this inquiry in the main came about through lobbying by the Ulster Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party. It was limited in its focus to the circumstances surrounding Billy Wright’s death. It will come as no surprise that the report places much of the blame at the feet of the prison administration.

“In all of the coverage today it is important not to forget that Wright was a unionist paramilitary leader involved in the murder of up to 30 innocent Catholics.

“Many of Billy Wright’s victims would be much more interested in a proper investigation into his activities when alive, including his relationship with senior unionist politicians like Willie McCrea, rather than simply the circumstances surrounding his death.

“It is our firm view that Wright and the Mid-Ulster UVF, like their colleagues in Mount Vernon, were controlled, directed and manipulated by the British state. This report does not examine this aspect of Wright’s life.

“We would strongly support the recommendation contained in the report for a complete overhaul of the administration of the prison system in the North.

“The negative grip of the Prison Officers’ Association over prison policy here needs to be tackled in the time ahead.”

ENDS