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 Jennifer Carroll MacNeillJennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have a number of comparative questions and observations based on the statements. I thank the witnesses for the comprehensive work they have done on this matter. We on these islands have been led a very merry dance by Tory backbenchers in recent years. To me, this proposal is especially egregious because it involves absolutely no reference to a democratic mandate of any kind. However regrettable Brexit and its consequences are, at least it was linked to a democratic process. This is much less so.

As one of the witnesses said, it undermines the rule of law and interferes with the justice system. It provides a pathway grounded in the historical responsibility of the United Kingdom and what that has meant, both internationally and in the context of international law, regarding other nations just ignoring human rights obligations. That is vital at a time of increased importance in the context of the commitment to the rule of law and to human rights internationally. The situation could not be more febrile.

There is nothing serious about reconciliation in the Bill. Please correct me if I am wrong, but as I understand it - and some of those parties are represented here - other parties in Westminster have attempted to delete the substantive clauses in their entirety, which seems to be a completely inappropriate legislative response.

The associated proposal around the official history could not come at a worse time, or from a worse Government with the worst record, when it comes to the effort to look at an official documentation of history. I thank the witnesses for acknowledging the substantial efforts of the Irish Government and our diplomats to divert the UK from this genuinely reckless and damaging course of action, notwithstanding the efforts of the British diplomatic system to wrap the Irish Government up in this Bill at different points. Perhaps that was then and one must always be optimistic in politics in order to really get things done. Maybe there is an opportunity, at either a political or diplomatic level, or both, to genuinely reset this. I really do hope that this may be so.

My questions are about two matters, namely, the establishment and the re-establishment of the facts. If it is to be reset, then it is important that these are clarified. Professor McEvoy refers in his submission to "misleading and inaccurate assertions concerning a ‘witch-hunt’ against British Army veterans" and "the real driver for the legislation is to curtail investigations into the UK military and to ‘take back control’ of the narrative of the conflict" We have a little bit of time, so will Professor McEvoy take a moment to set out some examples of that? I will then ask some further questions on the background of the data and comparative analyses.

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