The relationship between the UK and Ireland is “strong enough to deal with” a dispute over new legacy laws, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has said.
From Wednesday, responsibility for dealing with hundreds of unresolved cases will pass to a new truth recovery agency, the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).
The Legacy Act includes a limited form of immunity from prosecution for Troubles-related offences to those who co-operate with the new body.
The legislation has been opposed by all Northern Ireland political parties as well as victims’ organisations.
The Irish Government has also launched an interstate case against the UK at the European Court of Human Rights.
In addition, a judge at Belfast High Court ruled that the provision for conditional immunity was not compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The UK Government is appealing against that finding.
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris discussed the row with Ireland’s deputy premier Micheal Martin at the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference (BIIGC) in London on Monday.
Mr Martin said he “understands” the UK Government’s concerns about Ireland’s interstate case against new legacy laws.
He said the Irish Government took the decision to take the case “reluctantly”, and added: “Today I heard the British Government’s concerns about the case directly – I understand them.”
Speaking to reporters at the BIIGC, he said: “Equally, I hope that they understand our concerns and our sense of how we got to this point.
“My Government and every Irish government will always defend the central importance of the European Convention of Human Rights to the Good Friday Agreement – the ECHR is integral to the Good Friday Agreement.”
Mr Martin, who is the Irish foreign minister, said Ireland had a “desire to do right by the victims”.
Asked if the Irish Government would co-operate with the the ICRIR, he said Ireland was awaiting the outcome of legal challenges against the laws – which include its own interstate case.
He said: “We intend to have further meetings with victims’ groups in terms of where they see the situation now.
“Our ultimate objective is to do right by the victims and the families of the victims.
“As I meet more and more groups, there are younger generations coming through. So this isn’t going away, so to speak.
“Many of the younger generations of families are very determined to carry on the campaigns and to get resolution, so all of us – and we may have differences in approach – but I think all of us share a genuine desire to do right by the victims and the families of the victims.”
Mr Heaton-Harris told reporters that Ireland and the UK are “bound to” have various political debates.
He added: “But I’d like to think our relationship is strong enough to deal with all of those issues.”
However, the under-secretary of state for Northern Ireland said Ireland’s interstate case was “premature and unnecessary”.
Speaking at the same press conference, Lord Jonathan Caine also denied that the Legacy Act was a “cover-up” and said the ICRIC would provide answers “far more effectively and for many more people” than current mechanisms.
He added: “I would reject completely any suggestion that this is about cover-up because the new body will have access to far more state records than has ever been available to any such body in the past.
“What we are trying to do here is deliver as much information and as many answers as possible to those victims and survivors who actually want them and, of course, join this process.
“I’ve never shied away from the fact that there will be some things that emerge that are difficult for the UK Government and the British state.
“There’ll be things emerge which are very difficult for paramilitaries and former paramilitaries as well, but the intention behind this legislation is to allow victims to get more answers, more information against the backdrop where the current mechanisms work for a very small minority of people in Northern Ireland – and the chances this far on of successful criminal prosecutions is going to be vanishingly rare.”
The Northern Ireland Secretary also defended the establishment of the ICRIR as a move in “an important direction”.
Mr Heaton-Harris said the new body would have a “huge budget”.
Mr Martin told reporters there was discussion about a number of legacy issues including the Dublin-Monaghan bombings as well as the killings of Sean Brown and Pat Finucane.
He added that the Irish Government would fully co-operate with the UK’s Omagh bombing inquiry, amid calls for tandem public inquiries in both jurisdictions.