The Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) must have power to recommend prosecutions into decades-old cases in any Anglo-Irish legacy agreement, Northern Ireland secretary Hilary Benn has said.
Speaking in Oxford to the British-Irish Association (BIA), Mr Benn said the Irish and British governments are “now very close to being in a position to announce” a deal on how to handle legacy cases.
The agreement must ensure that the ICRIR, headed by former judge Declan Morgan, becomes “a reformed, independent and human rights-compliant legacy commission that gives families the best chances of finding out the answers” they have sought, he said.
So far, the legacy commission has begun 80 investigations into Troubles cases and has been approached by 200 families who lost loved ones, despite criticisms from Sinn Féin and others that it does not have public support.
READ MORE
“Families are still searching for the truth and answers. Answers that have been hidden for too long. Answers that some people may not like. Answers that are an uncomfortable and shocking or painful reminder of grim times and brutal deaths,” said Mr Benn.
However, the Northern Ireland secretary said former and often now elderly British soldiers and police officers “and anyone who’s served the state in Northern Ireland to keep people safe” are “treated with dignity and respect”.
Speaking to the BIA in Pembroke College, he continued: “We all know that a perfect outcome is not attainable. Not everyone, as Mo Mowlam once said, is going to get everything they want.”
Remembering a quote from the Ulster Museum that Northern Ireland has “a shared past, but we do not have a shared memory”, he said he was certain that “with trust in each other and continued resolve and courage we can find a way forward”.
“As our two countries turn to face the future, let us neither be burdened by the past nor turn our backs upon it. The way forward is now within our grasp, and that is why we must find the courage to do this and to do it now,” he said.
Speaking on Friday, Tánaiste Simon Harris said an agreement between Dublin and London on handling legacy issues was “effectively there”, emphasising the need for a deal to honour the European Convention on Human Rights.
However, he expressed concern that the details of the agreement once published are given proper consideration, rather than disappearing into a maelstrom of political and public controversy.
“I know it will take time to absorb for survivors, families, and victims, for whom getting this right is so very important. I know and believe we will need to allow sufficient space for people to consider it, to let it breathe, to interrogate it,” he said.
The talks have been under way for a year to agree a joint framework for dealing with the legacy of the Troubles, including new and improved measures by the Irish Government to deal with questions posed about Dublin’s record.
Promising co-operation, Mr Harris said: “Let me also say this, and I say this and I mean this, this will also include commitments from [the Irish] Government in relation to our obligations in our jurisdiction.
“I fully intend to deliver on the commitment in our programme for government to comprehensively address the legacy of the past south of the Border.”
