A dispute has broken out over plans by the North's Minister for Victims, Mr Adam Ingram, to meet the family members of eight IRA men shot dead by the SAS during a paramilitary attack on an RUC station in Loughgall, Co Armagh, 12 years ago.
Nine people were shot dead, one a civilian, when security forces thwarted the IRA gun and bomb attack on the station in May 1987.
Unionist politicians and the victims' group, Families Acting for Innocent Relatives (FAIR), reacted angrily to the decision. The group, which represents families of those killed by republican violence, described it as an "absolute disgrace". The North's First Minister, Mr David Trimble, also criticised Mr Ingram's decision and his "failure to consult" before arranging the meeting, which is scheduled for early next week.
Mr Trimble said he questioned what Mr Ingram would achieve in this "controversial" move. However, the Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, defended the decision. "If we are embarked on an agreement which is going to take in the entire community, then we have to bind the wounds in the entire community - not just part of it," he said.
The Loughgall Relatives' Group, which includes the family of the civilian killed in the incident, issued a statement calling for an immediate stop to the categorisation and marginalisation of victims and their relatives.
The Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, defended Mr Ingram's planned meeting with the families and said it did not mean he endorsed or agreed with their views.
Mr Ingram said he was involved in the "process of healing" and fully understood the outrage from some quarters. "This is a very difficult issue. We fully understand the deep hurt and grief which are there and that's why we are trying to tackle it in a constructive way." He added: "Dialogue is at least the starting point for resolving the differences of the past."
The DUP Assembly member, Mr Ian Paisley jnr, claimed yesterday that Mr Ingram had refused to meet relatives of the Shankill bomb victims while agreeing to meet the dead IRA men's families.
However, prison service sources said the relatives concerned, who included Ms Michelle Williamson, who lost her parents in the attack, had met Dr Mowlam in October concerning the early release of prisoners. A spokesman said it was felt that the "ground was covered" when a meeting was requested with Mr Ingram on prisoner releases.
The planned meeting was also criticised yesterday by senior unionists. Mr Ken Maginnis MP, of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), deplored the decision. The DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, said: "It is a studied insult to the memory of the innocent victims of IRA terrorism and to all their bereaved loved ones."
The county grand chaplain of the Orange Order in Co Armagh, the Rev William Bingham, said that relatives of innocent victims "cannot be equated" with relatives of paramilitaries. The decision was "grossly offensive".