IRA could help other families too: Bell

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 14th Oct 2004

ALLIANCE Deputy Leader and Victims Spokesperson Eileen Bell MLA has said that the IRA apology for the murder of 15-year-old Bernard Teggart in 1973 should lead to the paramilitary group doing more to assist victims.

Mrs Bell stated:

"The IRA tried to justify the murder of this child at the time by saying he was an informer, although there is no way they could have known for certain. They even denied they were responsible, because this disgusting killing caused such outrage at the time.

"Regardless of what Bernard Teggart had or hadn't done, it is a mark of outstanding cruelty that anyone would want to shoot a 15-year-old dead in cold blood.

"No apology from the IRA will ever bring any of the hundreds of innocent people they slaughtered back, but perhaps this family can take some comfort from this statement. I hope so.

"The IRA could help other people too by making moves, for example, to help the families of the 'Disappeared' find the bodies of their loved ones. Their suffering is equally traumatic and if the IRA is serious about moving forward, they should help these people too."