Ben Lowry: Unionists and London have consistently failed to challenge Ireland's repeated criticisms of the UK on legacy

To see how weak unionists and the government have been on legacy, consider Leo Varadkar on Friday (this article was first published in the print newspaper on Saturday June 10).

(Scroll down for link to Ben’s main column)

The Irish prime minister had the nerve to say amendments to a Westminster bill aimed at tackling Northern Ireland's past "don't go far enough". He was referring to government attempts to placate nationalist criticisms of the legacy bill, which offers an amnesty for people accused of Troubles crimes if they assist truth recovery. The ever scolding Mr Varadkar said he had raised the issue several times with the prime minister, then said legacy "is one of the few things that all five major parties in Northern Ireland are united on”.

Unionists are wholly to blame for the way in which a Taoiseach can imply that they and the IRA are at one on legacy. They have joined with nationalist opposition to the bill, instead of making clear their contempt for how even moderate nationalists now rarely challenge a republican narrative on the past.

Meanwhile, London has moved to shut down legacy rather than take the fight to their tormentors, including an Irish state that refused to extradite IRA murderers over three decades. While Dublin drones on about the amnesty, the UK is too feeble even to cite Ireland’s own de facto amnesty for IRA. For years I have said the only response to such Irish hypocrisy is unilateral UK probes into Irish terrorism.

Ben Lowry (@BenLowry2) is News Letter editor

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