Ben Lowry: Hypocritical Ireland cites unionists to justify its decision to continue to sue the UK on legacy
The Irish government yesterday implied it would be disrespectful to unionists to drop its legacy legal action against Britain.
To anyone who has not followed this saga: Dublin sued the UK at Strasbourg over the last government’s plan for a conditional amnesty for Troubles killings. This was “breathtakingly hypocritical,” to quote that genuine human rights activist Jeff Dudgeon at an Ulster Unionist Party conference legacy debate last Saturday.
It was hypocritical because Ireland was allowed in the Stormont House Agreement of 2014 to evade proper scrutiny over its role in the Troubles, for example over its extradition refusals, as a result of which border many Protestants were murdered. Specifically it was hypocritical because Ireland, as one of its own former justice ministers has said, gave the IRA a de facto amnesty from the 1990s.
Yet the reaction to this shocking legal case by many unionists and event the former Tory government was too mild. Unionists let Ireland repeat the line that all the Stormont parties opposed the legacy amnesty and so imply that Dublin was acting on behalf of unionists in their legacy case! The Tanaiste Simon Harris also implied they were being respectful of the UK parliament.
Ireland respectful of UK sovereignty? Given its shenanigans post Brexit?
• Ben Lowry (@Benlowry2) is News Letter editor