Dáil Éireann Debate, Monday - 11 September 2023
66. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the outcome of his most recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the Foreign Secretary concerning legacy issues with particular reference to the totally unacceptable Legacy Bill; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39304/23]
View answerThe UK government's unilateral Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy & Reconciliation) Bill will shortly enter into law.
Since the Bill's publication, the Government, together with all the main political parties in Northern Ireland, victims and their representatives, church leaders and civic society, has consistently expressed strong opposition to the approach to dealing with the past which the UK government proposes.
At my most recent with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris, in the margins of the British Irish Association, on 2 September in Oxford, I again reiterated the Government's strong concern that the Bill would not, in our view, deal with legacy issues in a fit for purpose way. It is our view that the approach proposed is not compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights and would damage reconciliation efforts in Northern Ireland. This a message which I have conveyed to the Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, and as Taoiseach to a number of Prime Ministers. The UK government is aware that Ireland's preferred approach to dealing with these issues would that agreed by the two Governments, together with Northern Irish leaders, at Stormont House. I
I am aware of calls for consideration of the initiation of an inter-state case against the United Kingdom before the European Court of Human Rights in relation to the UK Legacy Bill. Many of those calls come from elected members of this House. As the Taoiseach and I have stated in the last number of days, the Government have sought legal advice on this matter, and when that advice is received the Government will consider what subsequent action will be taken.
