Victims’ groups will listen with sceptical ears when briefed this morning on a new joint framework agreed by the Irish and British governments aimed at resolving legacy issues in the North.
Bitter experience has taught them the devil is in the detail; which is why, for all the fanfare accompanying its unveiling, they will want to wait and see if it does indeed represent the “sea-change” promised by the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, yesterday.
But it is certainly a change from what has gone before. The controversial Legacy Act was born out of a unilateral decision by the then Conservative government in the UK. Today’s agreement is the result of intensive discussions between the two governments and is the strongest demonstration yet of the “reset” of Irish-British relations following the election of the current prime minister, Labour’s Keir Starmer.
Here, there has certainly been a sea-change, and one that bodes well for the future in terms of cross-Border co-operation and the likelihood of cross-community support. These will be vital if the two governments are to deliver, finally, on legacy for Northern Ireland and its people.
RM Block
The new framework, in all its detail, will be unveiled on Friday by Tánaiste Simon Harris and Northern Secretary Hilary Benn at a press conference in Belfast.
It is expected that it will envisage two separate bodies: one for information recovery similar to a deal proposed at Stormont House in 2014, and a separate, reformed Legacy Commission to replace the current Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).
The Commission will be able to carry out fact-finding investigations to provide families with the truth about the deaths of their loved ones during the Troubles. It will also have the power to conduct criminal investigations that can lead to prosecutions.
Its work will be supervised by an independent oversight board, and there will be no offer of immunity for perpetrators who co-operate. This aspect had been one of the most contentious aspects of the Legacy Act until it was found unlawful by a judge.
Investigations the ICRIR has already begun will continue and could potentially transition to the new body. Legacy inquests that started and were stopped will resume. Those ordered but not yet opened will also transfer to the Commission, which will have new inquisitorial powers.
Both governments will commit to reciprocal co-operation with legacy investigations, assuming, from the Irish point of view, that these have been sufficiently reformed to be compliant with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
ECHR compliance and the support of victims and families for any changes have been of important to Dublin throughout the negotiations. It is understood the Irish Government believes the framework addresses its concerns and will allow families to finally receive truth and accountability about what happened to their loved ones.
There is a key caveat, though. The commitments made in the framework must be followed through on in terms of implementation and delivery.
This will require legislation in the UK (fulfilling the Labour government’s pledge to “repeal and replace” the Legacy Act) and then in Ireland to facilitate the State’s co-operation with the new legacy bodies.
This is expected to include the creation of a formal structure for engagement between the Commission and An Garda Síochána, which will require individuals to co-operate with the new body.
All this will take some time but, assuming all goes to plan, this should pave the way for the withdrawal of Ireland’s inter-state case against Britain over the Legacy Act.
One exception to look out for – and an issue that could cause friction between Dublin and London – is the murder of Sean Brown. The GAA official and father-of-six was locking the gates at Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA club in Co Derry when he was abducted and killed by loyalist paramilitaries in 1997.
The Irish Government supports the Brown family’s call for a public inquiry, which has been ordered by a court in Northern Ireland. The British government disagrees and is challenging this decision in the Supreme Court.
Broadly speaking, the framework is similar to the Stormont House deal agreed between the two governments in 2014 that was never implemented, but which many – not least the Irish Government – have advocated a return to.
If it is indeed “Stormont House Lite”, as one prominent solicitor described it yesterday, then it begs the question: what might have been achieved in the intervening 11 years?
It is now 2025, not 2014. With both governments apparently back, for the most part, on the same page, this might be the last, best chance to achieve some measure of truth and justice for those who have so long been denied it.
