The father of Raymond McCord jnr, a young Protestant man murdered by the UVF, has called on the European Parliament to put pressure on the British government to bring his son's killers to justice.
Raymond McCord snr was in Strasbourg yesterday to highlight allegations of police collusion in his son's death. The 22-year-old was beaten to death by the UVF in 1997 and his body dumped in a quarry.
Mr McCord's complaint to Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan led to her report on RUC/loyalist collusion last January. The killing was one of 10 investigated by the ombudsman and found to involve collusion between the RUC's special branch and Mark Haddock, leader of the Mount Vernon UVF in north Belfast.
Mr McCord said he was frustrated that there had been no moves on behalf of the British government to bring any of those involved in the killings to justice.
"We were led to believe that given how damning the report was that as soon as the repot came out that something would be done but nothing has happened."
He said he would like the Irish Government to be more proactive in seeking convictions in relation to the killings investigated by Mrs O'Loan, but was also seeking the support of the European Parliament.
"I would like to see the MEPs here do something positive concerning the murder of my son."
He said he was not necessarily seeking a public inquiry but wanted arrests in relation to his son's murder and the other killings investigated by Mrs O'Loan. "The British state and British citizens were involved in the murder of my son, collusion has now been accepted by Tony Blair and I believe the EU Parliament has an obligation to the victims to do something positive to convince the British government to act. I want to see people arrested."
Mr McCord was in Strasbourg at the invitation of Sinn Féin MEPs Mary Lou McDonald and Bairbre de Brún.