Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 7 July 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement

British Government Legacy Proposals: Discussion

Photo of Niall BlaneyNiall Blaney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. I will not go over ground that has been covered. The witnesses have given us a very precise and honest reflection of where we are at with matters of legacy in Northern Ireland. Looking at what is developing across the water today, a new Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has been appointed. Can the witnesses give us any insight into him? Is it more of the same or is he someone from whom we might expect some change? There is talk of an interim leader and Dominic Raab has been mooted. If that were the case, do the witnesses see this legislation being put on hold? What can we as a committee do here? In the statement he made on his resignation, the outgoing Secretary of State, Brandon Lewis, wrote, "A decent and responsible Government relies on honesty, integrity and mutual respect". He said the British Government is no longer upholding those three attributes. Is there merit in us as a committee writing to him and others like him with a view to planting some seeds as to how to get to that point of honesty, integrity and decency, particularly in relation to this legislation?

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