UK government 'is letting Dublin away with everything' on Troubles legacy says Doug Beattie
The UK government is “letting the Irish government away with everything” when it comes to the legacy of the Troubles.
That is the view of UUP man Doug Beattie, as Labour Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn met with a trio of parties yesterday to discuss the matter.
Just prior to the meeting with the UUP, Mr Beattie, MLA for Upper Bann and Ulster Unionist justice spokesman, accused the UK government of “rolling over” to demands from Dublin.
"Where is the strong call from the UK government for the Irish to set up their own legacy mechanisms, for Omagh, for the multiple cross-border attacks against UK citizens, for the hundreds of victims from the Provisional IRA border campaign during the Troubles, for fairness, for accountability and openness and transparency?
“It's time the UK government grew a backbone and held the Irish government to account."
He later added: "I think it’s fair to say the UK government are weak on legacy – and they’re letting the Irish government away with everything.”
The Northern Ireland Office told the News Letter tonight: "The UK and Irish governments are continuing intensive bilateral discussions in an attempt to reach agreement on a joint-approach to addressing legacy issues.
"As set out at the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, any agreement would include ensuring that there are clear reciprocal commitments by both the UK Government and the Government of Ireland.”
The UK government’s Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 – generally called the Legacy Act – halted scores of civil cases and inquests into Troubles deaths, and also offered conditional immunity to perpetrators of conflict-related crimes in exchange for their co-operation with a new investigatory and truth recovery body.
It was opposed by all the main political parties in Northern Ireland, the Irish government and many victims’ groups.
In 2023, the Irish government initiated a legal case against the UK in the European Court of Human Rights, claiming the Legacy Act breached the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The case remains active.
A meeting with the DUP and Mr Benn today was put off until later in the week due to scheduling conflicts, a party spokesman said.
Meanwhile meetings between Mr Benn and Sinn Fein and Alliance went ahead as planned (whilst Mr Benn had met the SDLP on Tuesday).
Ahead of today’s meetings, Mr Benn said the Government was committed to finding a system “capable of delivering for all families who are seeking answers around the loss of their loved ones”.
“I am continuing to work with all of the Northern Ireland parties over what should be included in that legislation,” he said. “It is important that new legacy arrangements are capable of commanding the confidence of families and of all communities.”
After the Sinn Fein meeting, its MP John Finucane said: “Today was an opportunity for us to reiterate and speak on behalf of those families that have been treated disgracefully by the Legacy Act and that have been left in limbo really since Labour came into government last July.
“Those families who have had their inquests halted, those families who have uncertainty and who, after many years, still find themselves in a position where they don’t know if they will receive truth and justice.”
Mr Finucane said he raised the demand for a public inquiry into the loyalist murder of GAA official Sean Brown in 1997, which campaigners say involved state collusion (though the Police Ombudsman in 2004 “found no evidence of police collusion in the murder”).