Mr Robinson said,
“The Coroner’s report references interviews with PIRA men identified as CC1, CC2 and CC4. These three men escaped across the border following their attack on Coalisland RUC station but I am not aware of them being prosecuted for their part in a terrorist attack.
I have written to the Irish Justice Minister and the Northern Ireland Secretary of State to establish what efforts were made to ensure these men were held accountable for their crimes.
Whilst many will focus on the SAS soldiers, these three terrorists must be held accountable for their part in the attempted murder of RUC officers in Coalisland.
The men shot in this SAS operation were not innocent bystanders, they were armed members of the Provisional IRA who had just launched an attack on Coalisland RUC station.
The PIRA team had an anti-aircraft gun mounted on a lorry. This was one of the most powerful weapons ever to have been in the hands of the Provisional IRA. If the SAS had not captured that gun, heaven only knows how many innocent lives would have been stolen by the IRA.
It is outrageous that the focus continues to be placed on those who upheld law and order rather than on those who waged a campaign of terror. The IRA members were engaged in violent, premeditated attacks and were prepared to kill. It is perverse that today, the very soldiers who protected innocent lives are being pursued, whilst Aidan McKeever, the IRA get-a-way driver, received a three-year suspended sentence and £75k compensation because he was shot.
We will continue to work with colleagues in Westminster to ensure that the interests of those who served their country are not sacrificed in the name of revisionist history.”