Unionists condemn placard 'monument'

The placards have been placed on a hill overlooking the Glenshane Pass ahead of yesterday's publication of the Saville Report into Bloody Sunday.

Unionist councillors have said the move will "increase tensions" in the wake of the report's launch and called for the group to remove the names. UUP Alderman Jack Rankin and UUP Councillor Edwin Stevenson called the actions of the campaign group Relatives for Justice, "disgusting and intimidating".

Councillor Stevenson said: "This does nothing for those who want to leave the past behind, if anything it's living in the past. There were a lot of innocent people that were killed throughout the Troubles, not just those named outside Dungiven."

He continued: "I feel this was done to possibly put pressure on David Cameron today regarding the launch of the Saville Report but if he does apologise, he's got it wrong. Look at the groups he's going to hurt including the army and all our security forces."

"Is David Cameron going to apologise to all the police widows and the young children that watched their loved ones gunned down in front of them? We can all talk about moving on but we need to do it together."

Alderman Rankin continued: "I have had phone calls from a lot of people who feel intimidated by even driving past these placards. This does nothing for trying to leave the past behind."

UUC Councillor Leslie Cubitt said the names of those killed by the IRA should also be remembered.

Councillor Cubitt said:"I feel that this is a deliberate ploy prior to the Saville Report findings and the marching season to increase tensions in the area."

He added: "The erection of these name is terribly one sided. Should those people murdered by the IRA in the Droppin' Well Bomb, Omagh, Enniskillen and countless other atrocities not also be remembered? Over 3,000 innocent civilians have been killed in the conflicts and their cohorts, these names should also remembered."

Fellow UUC and TUV councillor Boyd Douglas echoed Mr Cubitt's feelings.

"Surely if this group was campaigning for justice the names of the nine people murdered in the Claudy bombs in 1972 and hundreds more who were murdered by the IRA should be included. Justice should be even handed."

The placards were erected on Sunday by the group, whose director Mark Thompson said the move provided a "poignant reminder" to the visiting media that many families beyond Derry who hold a "vested interest in truth and justice".

Mr Thompson said: "The 300 names on the road to Derry, just outside Dungiven, bears testimony to the terrible legacy that is the true human cost of British military actions in our country. We remember all victims of state violence and repledge ourselves to the struggle for truth for all families."

Limavady Sinn Fein Councillor Cathal O'hOisin spoke in support of the erection of the names, calling the location of the 300 plus names "symbolic."

"These names were erected by people whose loved ones were murdered by the British army and not to concentrate on the Saville Report findings. Their names serve as a reminder that hundreds of other peoples lives have too been blighted by the actions of the British army."

Councillor O'hOisin continued: "I think it is also symbolic that Relatives for Justice decided to erect the 300 plus names outside Dungiven as it is a place symbolic being the birthplace of civil rights."

Yesterday became the day where the publication of the Saville Report into the shooting dead of 14 unarmed civilians, and the wounding of scores others, by the Army's Parachute Regiment in Derry on January 30, 1972 was published.