FERMANAGH victims of the Troubles have told the Westminster committee examining the On The Runs (OTRs) scheme that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Secretary of State Peter Hain should be compelled to give evidence during the inquiry.

Speaking on Tuesday this week at a Northern Ireland Affairs Committee (NIAC) evidence session in Stormont the delegation from Innocent Victims United (IVU) said the Committee would be left “playing guess work” over the truth behind the OTRs scheme if Blair and Hain did not cooperate with the inquiry.

Speaking frankly to the Committee, Fermanagh representatives Stephen Gault, whose father Samuel was killed in the Enniskillen Bomb, and Phyllis Carrothers, whose husband Dougie was murdered by an IRA car bomb in Lisbellaw in 1991, said the revelations of the OTRs “fiasco” was merely “the straw that broke the camel’s back”.

IVU director Kenny Donaldson, told the committee: “The constituency of innocent victims and survivors which IVU supports do not subscribe to the insulting demand asked by many, ‘that a line be drawn under the Past and that we all move on.’ “Innocent victims and survivors of terrorism do not want your pity; they seek your understanding, your support and your commitment to do right by them in ensuring that Justice and Accountability prevails.” Besides their submission to the committee yesterday, the IVU left DVDs, books and literature all outlining the experiences and issues faced by victims and survivors of terrorism and other Troubles related violence.