Legacy Act prevented ‘landing zone’ being reached for Troubles victims – Harris

The Legacy Act prevented a “landing zone” being reached that could have enabled Troubles victims to secure truth and answers, Ireland’s deputy premier Simon Harris has said.

The Tanaiste said he hoped that the Irish Government would in future be able to suspend its interstate legal case against the UK Government over the Act, subject to the “right conditions being met”.

The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023, introduced by the Conservatives, halted scores of civil cases and inquests into Troubles deaths.

It also introduced a provision to give conditional immunity to perpetrators of Troubles crimes in exchange for their co-operation with a new truth recovery body, the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).

The law was opposed by victims’ groups in Northern Ireland and all the main political parties at Stormont.

The Irish Government was also vehemently opposed to it and in 2023 initiated an interstate legal case against the UK in the European Court of Human Rights, claiming the Act breached the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The case remains active, with ministers in Dublin wanting to see how Labour resolves its concerns over the legislation before any decision is taken to withdraw the action.

Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn recently set out the UK Government’s plan to repeal and replace the Act.

Inquests and civil cases would resume and the conditional immunity provision would be axed.

But the UK Government was retaining the ICRIR, which had both investigatory and truth recovery functions.

Speaking during a visit to Belfast, Mr Harris said he wanted to get to the point where an “overarching framework” on achieving truth, answers and justice for all victims could be reached.

He added: “And that really, I think, is where the Secretary of State and I need to intensively work and work with the parties here and with the victims and victims’ families and their representative groups.

“Because the opportunity here is to try and arrive at a place where I believe we could have arrived at a number of years ago, were it not for the Legacy Act, quite frankly.

“I think if people had stuck with the process and worked through those processes, we could have found a landing zone that could provide people with the truth and the answers and the justice that they so richly deserve.”

Regarding the interstate case, Mr Harris said Ireland had “no wish to find itself involved in international legal dispute with our nearest neighbours”.

He said: “We felt we had no alternative, quite frankly, when we had exhausted all other avenues, political, diplomatic and every other way.

“And I very much welcome the fact that in the Labour Party’s manifesto, and then obviously in the King’s Speech and in the comments of the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State since then, they’ve been very clear about repealing and replacing the Legacy Act, and we’re eager to engage on that.

“At the right moment in time, subject to the right conditions being met, I hope us to be, hopefully, be in a position to suspend that case.”

Mr Harris said he had discussed the 1997 murder of GAA official Sean Brown during a telephone conversation with Mr Benn.

Mr Brown was shot dead after being abducted as he locked the gates of the Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA club. Intelligence material has linked state agents to the death of the 61-year-old.

The NI Secretary is appealing against a court ruling from December that a public inquiry should be held. A UK Government barrister has argued that ruling was wrong in law.

Mr Harris said: “The Secretary of State made the point to me that I think he has made in public, and that the appeal has been taken, or the case has been taken on the grounds of process, in terms of being a government and not a court who can decide these things.

“My position in relation to this is we have to get truth for that family. We have to get answers.

“They have to get justice and I’m very supportive.”