Dublin politicians still scold London on legacy, despite Ireland’s past refusal to extradite terrorists

It was another eventful day yesterday with regard to the legacy of Northern Ireland’s long years of terrorism.

Irish republican-led violence set in motion a Troubles which left 3,700 people dead and many thousands more injured.

Today a victims’ pension is launched, benefiting some of those who were worst maimed. This is a welcome day for people who in some cases were paralysed half a century ago.

It is important now that some of the wilder cost estimates for the scheme are not realised, which would divert money from other vital frontline services such as health, and that funds stay targeted at victims worst affected by the past.

Meanwhile, a group of Irish politicians met some local victims yesterday in Belfast, as did Northern Ireland politicians.

The southern delegation included the Fianna Fail Senator Mark Daly, who said: “I have spoken to members of the United States Congress and Irish MEPs, and have asked them to use all avenues available to them to raise the concerns that we share on this proposed amnesty by the British government.”

It is extraordinary that Republic of Ireland politicians as a matter of course moralise on legacy without contradiction.

While the amnesty plan is indeed the wrong one, we must be clear why it has happened. The UK has panicked in the face of the scandal of soldier prosecutions, while IRA leaders enjoy a de facto amnesty. When was the last time a leader of that vicious terror gang faced proper criminal sanction?

Yet Dublin has repeatedly harangued London on legacy. The UK buckled in the face of veteran trials instead of examining how the anti state legacy imbalance came into being and instead of launching an offensive against republicans, such as inquiries and state funded civil cases against them.

For Irish politicians to lecture the UK is beneath contempt, given the Irish extradition refusals of murdering IRA thugs, which continued long after the Anglo Irish Agreement, as a result of which so many people died. But weak UK ministers say nothing in response to hectoring from Dublin.

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