Enquiries team re-open unsolved murder cases

A team of detectives are to begin investigating over 3,000 unsolved murders throughout the 29 years of the troubles in Northern Ireland.

The Historical Enquiries Team, which has a budget of more than £30 million, will today open an initial batch of files, of around 100 unsolved cases.

In a series of investigations expected to last for up to seven years, the team, headed by retired Metropolitan Police Commander David Cox, will re-examine a total of 3,268 murders that occured between April 1969 and the signing of the Good Friday Agreement 1998.

It has been speculated that the work could reveal the involvement of a number of republican and loyalist politicians in some of the unsolved killings.

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain described the launch of the Historical Enquiries Team as an important step, but acknowledged their work would be both complex and sensitive. He said: “We will never forget those who lost their lives as a result of the troubles. Nor will we forget those who continue to mourn these losses and who have to live with the consequences on a daily basis.

“The Government, through the provision of additional funding to set up the Historical Enquiries Team, is committed to addressing unanswered questions for as many families of victims as possible. I do not underestimate the challenges that lie ahead for the Team in investigating this complex and sensitive work."

He added that the efforts made to meet these challenges would be of vital importance in the bid to move the peace process forward, and to give some kind of closure and understanding to those directly affected by events of the past.

(EF/SP)