The UK government has allowed itself to be “taken in” by a “sham” promise of a new Troubles police unit in the Republic of Ireland, a UUP MLA has said.

Doug Beattie accused the Dublin state of doing “the minimal amount of work” possible on addressing the Troubles, describing the new unit as “toothless”.

It comes after the Irish justice minister said the planned garda unit will “not be an investigative unit”.

The existence of the body is part of a deal between the UK and Irish governments.

placeholder image — The new garda unit is being set up under a deal between the UK and Irish governments on tackling the legacy of the Troubles

It will see the UK set up a Legacy Commission to investigate historic crimes, and will reopen Troubles inquests that were closed by the past Tory government, and reactivate the ability to pursue civil cases such as claims for damages.

For its part, the text of the UK-Ireland agreement commits the Dublin government to "establish a dedicated unit within An Garda Siochana as a single point of contact for cross-border cooperation on Troubles-related cases”.

"This unit will also be a central point of contact and coordination with An Garda Siochana for victims and families in relation to Troubles-related investigations undertaken by An Garda Siochana,” it says.

"This is alongside the commitment of An Garda Siochana to investigate all unresolved Troubles-related incidents within its jurisdiction and ensure that any potential investigative opportunities are proactively pursued."

This unit will, “where possible, endeavour to answer questions that a family may have in relation to the investigation of a Troubles-related incident and provide a report to the family”

This builds on “established precedent,” says the agreement, adding that “the government of Ireland will keep these arrangements under review”.

Last week, Irish justice minister Jim O'Callaghan was asked by a reporter how many officers the unit will have.

He replied that the figure is up to the garda commissioner, and also said: “Well, in terms of the garda unit, it will not be an investigative unit.

"It is not the commissioner deciding to get together a collection of garda and to establish them as a separate investigation unit.

“That wouldn't be productive and it wouldn't be effective, because the expertise within Garda Siochana in many instances will lie within the regions where the offences took place and where they would be investigated.

"The purpose, as you look back at the joint framework agreement, the purpose of the unit is so that inquiries in Northern Ireland will have a direct contact with Garda Siochana, that they can come to the unit in the knowledge that their requests for information can be provided there as the central authority, rather than having to identify other locations where they can go.”

Mr Beattie, the Ulster Unionist justice spokesman, said: “Again, what we are seeing here from the Irish government is the minimal amount of work in relation to legacy, ensuring they keep their distance and continually try to give the impression they were not an active actor in the violence that engulfed the island.

"What is now clear is that the garda unit being established as part of the joint legacy framework will be a toothless paper transaction with no investigatory role.

“There will be no commitment to conduct any Article 2 investigations around Troubles murders of UK citizens in the Irish Republic, no commitment to investigate how terrorists used their territory to launch attacks into Northern Ireland and then retreat back into the safety of the republic, no investigations into collusion between Irish security forces, including the garda and terrorist organisations.

"It’s a sham, a sham that the UK government has allowed themselves to be taken in by, and it means no victim can have any trust in the information coming from this garda unit if it has no intention of conducting investigations.”

When this was put to the Northern Ireland Office (NIO), it referred the News Letter to comments made by junior NIO minister Matthew Patrick: “The clear commitment of the Irish government to provide the fullest possible co-operation with the Legacy Commission will help provide many more families with an opportunity to obtain information they have long sought.

"This partnership represents two governments coming together, each making sovereign commitments and promising to carry them out in their own jurisdictions.

"I believe that the Irish government will honour the promises they have made – the agreement has been signed in good faith, and we are each committed to do what we promised to do independently in our parliaments.”