Fate of proposed NI legacy Bill ‘hanging in the balance’, says Irish-American group

The fate of proposed British legislation aimed at ending legacy prosecutions arising from the Troubles in Northern Ireland is “hanging in the balance”, leading Irish-American organisation the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) has said, following talks with the UK government in London.

The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH), the largest Irish-American organisation in the United States, said it was told the legislation would be delayed for several weeks.

The legislation would stop all future criminal trials, inquests or civil actions involving killings during the Troubles. Instead it would introduce a new body led by a judicial figure appointed by the UK government, which would review deaths and have the power to grant immunity from prosecution to those who co-operated with it.

Former Fine Gael TD John Deasy, who handles government affairs for the AOH, said he believed “a sizeable group in the House of Lords view the legislation as extremely unwise and legally unsound”.

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The AOH said it did not believe passage of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill was “a foregone conclusion”.

Mr Deasy said he considered the fate of the proposed legislation was now “in the balance”.

Following a meeting with Northern Ireland minister Lord Caine in Westminster on Tuesday, Mr Deasy said the second reading of the Bill would now be delayed until mid-November.

“I didn’t detect any great conviction for finishing this legislation which frankly nobody really wants. We went to London to make that case directly to the British government and to relay our concern about the damage this Bill would inflict on US-UK relations.”

The AOH has also indicated it will now use the next four weeks to step up efforts in the US Congress to organise opposition to the measure.

“We initiated a resolution in March that passed the US House of Representatives unanimously and was co-sponsored by 50 members of Congress. The Bill has been altered slightly since then, but it is still unacceptable to the congressional offices we’re in contact with,” Mr Deasy told The Irish Times.

AOH president Danny O’Connell said: “The British government can still set this Bill aside. We’ve seen countless reversals of UK policy decisions over the last couple of weeks. One more on the legacy justice legislation would be welcomed by people in the US and in our opinion would benefit UK relations with Irish-American members of Congress and the White House.”

The AOH has also requested that the Oireachtas committee on the implementation of the Belfast Agreement asks the Attorney General to determine whether the proposed British legislation contravenes the European Convention on Human Rights.

Last week, the committee asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney, to attend a hearing and take questions on whether a State case was warranted, based on the AG’s advice.