Troubles legacy cases are forecast to cost £1.3bn on top of huge amount already spent: Ex-Chancellor Jeremy Hunt hits out as mammoth bill to include Gerry Adams compensation case

Compensation to the veteran republican Gerry Adams and others could form part of a mammoth bill that would cover the cost of two hospitals.

Jeremy Hunt, who was chancellor from 2022 to 2024, has endorsed a report that estimates payouts and costs of at least £1.3bn are coming down the line.

Think-tank the Policy Exchange has calculated that up to £1.4bn has already been spent on Troubles inquiries, inquests, compensation and court cases.

And as the News Letter revealed yesterday, there’s more than 1,000 cases relating to Troubles-era incidents still waiting to get under way – meaning plenty more cash to come.

The think-tank previously criticised the government for repealing parts of the previous administration's legacy act, arguing it would clear the way for ex-internees, including former Sinn Fein president Mr Adams, to seek compensation.

A public inquiry is currently hearing whether the security forces could have prevented the Real IRA bomb attack in Omagh in 1998, while another inquiry is set to get under way into the killing of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane.

In a foreword to the Policy Exchange paper, Conservative former chancellor Mr Hunt claimed the government’s approach to legacy issues is “wrong, not least when short-term penny-pinching has lost the UK a £450m vaccine manufacturing plant investment from AstraZeneca”.

He also accused the government of employing “a maximalist approach” to court cases and inquiries “without regard to the underlying benefits or costs”.

“When every line of additional departmental spending must run the Treasury gauntlet, is it right that there should be no such checks on the total cost of inquiries whether concerning Northern Ireland or indeed anywhere else?” he stated.

“If the additional sums being committed by this government to legacy matters were genuinely helping to bring about peace and reconciliation, the country would pay them cheerfully.

“But there is scant evidence that this is the case.”

The situation has lawyer and reconciliation campaigner Trevor Ringland is concerned that the government has left the door open to what should be small-scale inquests being treated more like government inquiries.

He thinks legacy issues would be better dealt with by the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), which was set up to investigate deaths and serious injuries related to the Troubles.

“We need to have serious discussions about how we want to handle these kind of issues,” he told the News Letter. “That’s not just about the money, but us as a society as a whole.

“Every inquest is being treated like it’s a mini-inquiry, which leads people to believe every case deserves it’s own inquiry – and when that doesn’t happen, people feel like it’s unequal treatment.

“The ICRIR could give people a realistic appraisal of what is possible through the court system, and whether a prosecution could be brought or not – and it can name names.

“I believe cases should go to the ICRIR first.”