You must get Troubles Bill right, Sinn Fein warns Bryant
Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant has been urged to get new legislation to deal with the legacy of the region’s past right.
A number of the Stormont parties are meeting with Sir Chris on Thursday while work on amendments to the Labour Government’s Troubles Bill is ongoing.
It comes after the previous government’s Legacy Act was widely criticised for halting scores of court processes, including inquests into deaths during the Troubles.
Concerns have been voiced by some that military veterans could potentially receive legal protection in the Bill.
Sinn Fein was the first delegation to meet Sir Chris, represented by North Belfast MP John Finucane and South Belfast MLA Deirdre Hargey.
After the meeting, Mr Finucane said they expect the publication of the latest amendments to the Bill by mid-October.
Speaking outside the Northern Ireland Office at Erskine House in Belfast, he said: “The Labour Government’s proposals on legacy have been sitting in abeyance for some time.
“We have made our concerns very clear for many years, but particularly on this piece of legislation, that the longer there is delay the longer the process of hurt is compounded for families who, in some cases, have been waiting decades to get truth and justice around the circumstances of what happened to their loved ones.
“This legislation must be for everybody, irrespective of the source of the loss that was visited upon them. This has to command the confidence of people right across society, not just here but right across these islands.”
Addressing criticism by some of “vexatious prosecutions” and “witch hunts” of British Army veterans, Mr Finucane said they emphasised to Sir Chris that a “partial approach to legacy will not command the confidence of those people he is asking to invest in the new process”.
The MP added: “We expect the full publication of the amendments within the next few weeks, I would say around the mid-October mark.
“Once we get full sight of the actual detail of all the amendments we will be able to make our full consideration and judgment.
“But this was another useful exercise from our point of view, and on behalf of those we talk to, to impress upon the Secretary of State that it’s important that he gets this right.”