New Tory plan for dealing with Northern Ireland’s legacy of the Troubles rehashes defunct ‘retrieval commission’ deal from 2014

The government has come up with new proposals for handling the backlog of unsolved Troubles cases which depart radically from its erstwhile plans – but closely mirror ones from several years ago.
25/10/1993: 
RUC and British Army patrol at the bottom of the Falls Road in west Belfast shortly after an IRA bombing; in the background is a mural dedicated to Christ and Mary25/10/1993: 
RUC and British Army patrol at the bottom of the Falls Road in west Belfast shortly after an IRA bombing; in the background is a mural dedicated to Christ and Mary
25/10/1993: RUC and British Army patrol at the bottom of the Falls Road in west Belfast shortly after an IRA bombing; in the background is a mural dedicated to Christ and Mary

Previously the government had proposed a blanket end to all Troubles prosecutions – much to the fury of the entire political spectrum in Northern Ireland, as well as survivors and the bereaved.

Now the government has set out some alternative blueprints, and central to them is the idea that people will be given immunity from prosecution if they co-operate with a kind of truth recovery commission.

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In a statement issued in the wake of the Queen’s Speech today, the government said it will draft a Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill.

The government said this is to “fulfil the manifesto commitment to address the legacy of Northern Ireland’s past by providing better outcomes for victims, survivors and their families, giving veterans the protections they deserve and focusing on information recovery and reconciliation”.

However the Tories last manifesto (for the 2019 General Election) merely said “we will continue to seek better ways of dealing with legacy issues that provide better outcomes for victims and survivors and do more to give veterans the protections they deserve,” and made no mention of “focussing on information recovery and reconciliation”.

WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENT PLANNING NOW?

The government sets out its reasoning, saying its aim is to help “individuals and communities look to the future rather than the past by recovering and providing as much information as possible to people about Troubles-related deaths and serious injuries”.

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This will come via something calls The Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information.

In the wake of the backlash against its blanket amnesty plans, the government now says that “a model where immunity is only provided to individuals who cooperate with the new commission provides the best route to give victims and their families the answers they have sought for years as well as giving our veterans the certainty they deserve”.

It adds: “This still leaves open the route of prosecution if individuals are not deemed to have earned their immunity.”

The new blueprints also call for “an oral history” of the Troubles to be created.

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In fact, much of this new plan largely re-heats ideas that are several years old.

The above blueprints closely resemble proposals from the Stormont House Agreement (which was struck on December 23, 2014, after 11 weeks of talks between the UK government, the big five parties, and the government of Ireland).

That deal was struck to end the Sinn Fein-driven deadlock over revamping the benefits system to ultimately replace a number of different benefits with things like Personal Independence Payments.

ECHOES OF DEFUNCT STORMONT HOUSE DEAL:

Here is what the 2014 agreement said:

“A new body, which will respect the sovereign integrity of each jurisdiction, will be established by the UK and Irish Governments, called the Independent Commission on Information Retrieval (ICIR), building on the precedent provided by the Independent Commission on the Location of Victims’ Remains.

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“The objective of the ICIR will be to enable victims and survivors to seek and privately receive information about the (Troubles-related) deaths of their next of kin.

“Individuals from both the UK and Ireland will be able to seek information from the ICIR.

“Once established, the body will run for no longer than five years.

“The ICIR will be led by five members: an independent chairperson who may be of international standing and will be appointed by the UK and Irish Governments, in consultation with OFMDFM, together with two nominees appointed by the First and deputy First Minister, one each appointed by the UK Government and the Irish Government.

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“The ICIR will not disclose information provided to it to law enforcement or intelligence agencies and this information will be inadmissible in criminal and civil proceedings...

“The ICIR will not disclose the identities of people who provide information. No individual who provides information to the body will be immune from prosecution for any crime committed should the required evidential test be satisfied by other means.”

The 2014 deal also said:

“The Executive will, by 2016, establish an Oral History Archive to provide a central place for people from all backgrounds (and from throughout the UK and Ireland) to share experiences and narratives related to the Troubles.”

The Stormont House Agreement was then re-affirmed a year later with the Fresh Start deal, which was basically an agreement to implement the Stormont House Agreement.

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Despite this double commitment to its provisions, much of what was promised in the 2014 deal never happened.

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