Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 2 February 2022
65. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has raised with any British government official the issue of British collusion with loyalist paramilitaries and barriers to investigating that collusion imposed by British security authorities; and if so, the officials he raised it with. [5244/22]
View answerI have consistently raised the need to comprehensively address the legacy of the past with the British Government, including at the British-Irish Inter-Governmental Conference, the latest of which took place in London on 2 December. I am in regular contact with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with the party leaders in Northern Ireland, and with victims and civil society organisations as we continue to press for progress on this issue.
The Government agreed to take part, together with the UK Government and the Northern Ireland parties, in a legacy engagement process which began in July last year, with the aim of finding a collective way forward on these issues. We also continue to raise individual legacy cases and the urgent need for access to information, including with respect to the Dublin-Monaghan bombings and the murder of Pat Finucane.
The Government has of course noted the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland's report into the RUC's handling of paramilitary attacks by the UDA/UFF between 1989 and 1993, which resulted in 19 murders and multiple attempted murders. Within this report, the Ombudsman has identified collusive behaviours and raised significant concerns about police conduct. This is an important report and we are studying it carefully.
The publication of this report was undoubtedly a significant and emotional moment for the families who lost loved ones as a result of this violence, and indeed for all families across the island who have shared that terrible experience and have had to campaign for decades to access the truth. It has been the consistent position of the Government that all families deserve access to information and a process of justice for their loved one, regardless of the perpetrator. Too many families have been waiting for too long.
A comprehensive legacy framework, as we set out in the Stormont House Agreement, is urgently needed. We will continue to work for the implementation of such a framework, in order to support wider societal reconciliation, build greater community confidence in policing and meet the legitimate needs of victims and survivors in Northern Ireland and across the island of Ireland.
The Government has consistently engaged with the British Government at all levels to make clear that a Statute of Limitations is not an approach we could support, and to caution strongly against unilateral action in this area. Only a collective approach, that meets the needs of families and upholds our shared human rights obligations, can be the way forward on this most sensitive of issues. The rule of law and the protections afforded by the European Convention on Human Rights must apply equally to everyone and must be upheld.
