Editorial: The new commissioner for veterans in Northern Ireland faces an uphill task

​We wish the new veterans’ commissioner for Northern Ireland well in his new post. David Johnstone is a former Royal Irish Regiment reserve officer who served his country as a company commander in Iraq.

Mr Johnstone said said he aims “to hit the ground running”. The Secretary of State for NI Hilary Benn predicted that the new commissioner “will work tirelessly” to ensure veterans are heard.

The task facing Mr Johnstone is a considerable one. He is only part-time, while multiple other commissioners in NI are full-time and better supported.

Successive UK governments have placated Irish republicans by failing to promote veterans because they know that former terrorists would find such support objectionable.

Under Mr Benn, and his decision to repeal the Legacy Act, ex soldiers and RUC face a disproportionate focus in legacy investigations, given that the reinstated inquests and civil cases will overwhelmingly be into deaths in which there are allegations against the security forces. Mr Benn was backed in this move by unionist politicians, and was able to cite their support in scrapping the planned conditional amnesty. Unionists have repeatedly failed to make clear their contempt for Sinn Fein and the Irish state on legacy, thus inadvertently letting the Irish government trumpet the line that all Stormont parties agree on legacy.

Unionists should in unison challenge that claim every time it is made, saying that they did indeed oppose the act but for reasons opposite to those of an Irish state that harboured terrorists through the Troubles, and that wants a resumption of the undue focus on state forces.

Meanwhile, the Armed Forces Covenant is not fully backed by law in Northern Ireland as it is in the rest of the UK, which means veterans do not get the same range of support and protections.