In Westminster today Aontú Leader and Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín has called on the 5 Assembly parties to challenge the Legacy Bill by the creation of an alternative Stormont Victims and Survivors agreement. An Teachta Tóibín is in London today and tomorrow as part of the Oireachtas Good Friday Agreement Committee in an effort to persuade British Ministers, MPs and members of the House of Lords to stop the Legacy Bill.
“It is incredibly frustrating that the five Stormont parties profess complete opposition to the Legacy Bill and declare that they were close to supporting the Stormont House Agreement. Yet the British claim that the Legacy Bill is being introduced because the parties of the north cannot agree on legacy”.
“Today in Westminster I urged the five Stormont parties to sit down together and prove the Tory Party wrong. Prove that they can develop a victim centric reconciliation process that allows victims and survivors the right to find out the truth, access criminal prosecutions, civil actions and inquests if it is their wish. Time is running out. The Stormont parties need to deliver actions rather than words if they are to be true to the people they are supposed to represent”.
“The Legacy Bill is a devastating blow against Victims and Survivors in the north of Ireland. Its impossible to overstate the anger and heart break. I am thinking about Seán Browne today, a 61 year old father of six from Bellaghy, County Derry who was abducted and murdered on May 12 1997. No one has ever been convicted of his murder. His inquest finally began in March, but a hearing that was planned for yesterday did not go ahead as the security services withheld critical material and information. If this inquest is not concluded by May 2024, the impending Legacy Bill will delete all chances of truth and justice for the family”.
“The Tory Party Legacy Bill is a unilateral move that damages significantly the relationship between Britain and Ireland. It is unique in drawing the opposition from every political party in Ireland, North and south. It drives a coach and four through the bilateral processes that created the Good Friday Agreement in the first place”.
“It creates the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery. This is another example of the evolution of language to mean nothing of what it is supposed to mean. How can reconciliation be any part of this process when each and every victim and survivor oppose the process”.
“It is a threat to the foundations of the rule of law for which Britain prides itself. A foundation of the rule of law is the ability of a victim of crime to find out the truth and achieve justice. The Legacy Bill deletes both rights delivers a an amnesty for the criminal. Indeed it is in direct opposition to the European Court of Human Rights. Aontú will table a Bill in the Dáil which will, if passed, mandate the Irish Government to bring the Legacy Bill to the European Court of Human Rights”.
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