Sinn Féin Foyle MLA Raymond McCartney has welcomed a directive from Belfast High Court that police and military chiefs must disclose intelligence files over British state collusion with the loyalist gang responsible for the Miami Showband massacre.

Mr McCartney said: “I welcome the decision to order the disclosure of more than 80 categories of documents related to the loyalist Glenanne Gang working in collusion with British state forces.

“There have been systemic failings on behalf of the PSNI in relation to collusion and the Glenanne Gang in particular.

“The British state has continually sought to deny and delay the truth about the role of its armed forces in running loyalist death squads during the conflict.

“The disclosure of these documents will go some way to explaining how that collusion came into effect.

“However, families should not have to go to the courts to get the truth decades after the killings of their loved ones

“A number of mechanisms were agreed at Stormont House to deal with the legacy of the past.

“The British government needs to implement this agreement and end its veto on disclosure on bogus national security grounds and instruct their intelligence agencies to fully and promptly comply with the court order."

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