Time to move on, First Minister? No, it's time to move away from matters beyond your remit

Published: 20:17, 17 May 2026 | Updated: 20:17, 17 May 2026 As a journalist, I worked for many years in Dublin, and was waved off from the Scottish Daily Mail in Glasgow on a Friday by the former second in command of 22 Special Air Service Regiment… And introduced on the Monday to a man who was very probably the intelligence officer of the Dublin Brigade of the terrorist Irish Republican Army. In almost a decade working in the Republic, I was always pleased to see the contempt in which those who sought to unite Ireland by Armalite and firebomb were held.  There was a clear understanding that these were murderous thugs, not romanticised freedom fighters. Some Dublin gangsters called themselves ‘ordinary decent criminals’ to distance themselves from the paramilitaries and in politics, Sinn Féin were dismissively called ‘the Shinners’. Now First Minister John Swinney – seeking common cause with the separatist Sinn Féin and Plaid Cymru – says we should all ‘move on’ from The Troubles He seems to base his thoughts on Northern Ireland on an essay he dashed out in university 40 years ago, and perhaps TV’s Derry Girls – a comedy, not a documentary. That would explain why he is so keen to cosy up to Northern Ireland’s Sinn Féin First Minister Michelle O’Neill and – worse – travel to Dublin to meet Mary Lou McDonald, head of the party in the Republic. Sinn Féin are a legitimate democratic party, but they haven’t – as Mr Swinney puts it – moved on. Young rioters hurling projectiles at British soldiers in 1972 John Cooper is the Conservative MP for Dumfries and Galloway and a former Daily Mail journalist Ms O’Neill saw fit to pay her respects at the funeral of an IRA enforcer called Bobby Storey – who that SAS officer told me was ‘the worst of the worst’. Ms McDonald recently said Republican kidnapper and killer ‘Bic’ McFarlane’s life was ‘well-lived’. The Troubles are over, but the shockwaves reverberate, and false narratives – such as that we should simply ‘move on’ – abound. Too many see the IRA and their ilk as rogues, not terrorists who would burn people to death in napalm attacks, maim people in kneecappings, disappear mothers from their children, and tie bombs around the necks of civilians. If you sing the catchy ditty ‘Ooh, Ah, Up the ’RA’ that’s the horrific reality in which you exult. Too many see British Forces as trigger-happy killers, not those who fought the terrorists to standstill in the name of peace.  And I raise two horrific incidents – just two from thousands – which I contend show this Labour Government’s twin-tier approach to the long shadow cast by the Troubles. First, Patrick Finucane, a lawyer shot 14 times in his Belfast home as his family sat down to dinner, and left gripping the fork with which he was about to eat… Second, the deaths of Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Bob Buchanan, the most senior Royal Ulster Constabulary victims of the conflict. They were murdered when they were ambushed returning from Dundalk in the Republic discussing, ironically, cross-Border security. Wounded, the Chief Super survived the initial fusillade of bullets, and emerged from his vehicle waving a white handkerchief. Despite this unequivocal sign of surrender, he was forced to lie on the road, and was shot in the head. So much for the romance of the ‘Auld IRA’. Collusion is suspected in both incidents, yet we are to have a public inquiry into only one: The Finucane slaying. Shortly before this Government scrapped the Conservatives’ Northern Ireland Legacy Bill, they announced a full public inquiry. That Legacy Bill was designed to offer partial amnesty to people involved in Troubles incidents in what I believe was a genuine attempt not to whitewash what happened, but to get to the truth, to encourage South African style post-conflict reconciliation. John Swinney has come under criticism for suggesting it is time to 'move on' from the Troubles in Northern Ireland as he seeks to work with Sinn Fein despite its IRA links It might have allowed relatives and friends of ‘the Disappeared’ – and they come from both sides of the conflict – to find closure. Take Columba McVeigh, vanished by the IRA aged just 19; and Captain Robert Nairac – also abducted in the North – and tortured and slaughtered just south of the Border. Neither man has been recovered. The Finucane murder has been probed before – indeed Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pointed to evidence from previous investigations being utilised again, to cut the cost and length of this new inquiry. Yet it seems there is no fresh evidence, so surely, then, this is a political decision – just as the decision not to reinvestigate the Jonesburgh ambush, which claimed the lives of those two brave RUC policemen, is also a political decision. No wonder Sinn Féin openly boast of having ‘friends at court’ in Westminster. We know the tip of our military spear is being blunted as our Special Forces face recruitment and retention issues as Labour press on with their dreadful Veterans’ Bill, which will see brave soldiers in the dock over split-second life-and-death decisions taken decades before. Soldiers brave enough to walk through the gates of hell now are – rightly – not willing to face lawyers decades hence. S inn Féin – so democratic they stand in Northern Ireland, but their MPs won’t take their seats in Westminster – are fomenting the break-up of Britain with useful idiots such as Mr Swinney. His Dublin jaunt was facilitated by the UK Labour Government, but they did not have eyes-on as Mr Swinney – with no remit in foreign affairs – sat in foreign hotel in a foreign land and talked about the British constitution with the head of the opposition in a foreign government. British taxpayers are funding the attempted break-up of Britain as Labour’s devolve-and-forget approach to Holyrood allows Mr Swinney to disport himself as an international statesman. Charles Stewart Parnell (1846-1891) was an Irish MP who used Westminster’s own systems against it as he agitated for Home Rule.  Mr Swinney is the Poundshop Parnell, having his strings pulled by the Shinners as they seek to rip Northern Ireland out of the Union with the bonus prize of weakening Britain by knocking out Scotland, and maybe even Wales, too. Whether it’s signing deals with hooky Chinese firms, or questionable donations to Gaza; or supping Guinness with the Shinners, the SNP are at their worst when they blunder onto the world stage. Move on, Mr Swinney? Time you moved on to getting the buses running on time and doling out those free schoolbags, bikes and laptops you promised. And time to move off international matters beyond both your remit and understanding. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? 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