Ms Liz O'Donnell:

I support the opposition to this legacy legislation. The number of people who died on both sides and all sides are being denied justice and this is not right. It was never what we had in mind. Nobody proposed amnesties. There was provision for early prisoner releases but we did not, at any stage, propose amnesties. I recall thinking at the time of the prisoner releases that there would be much more opposition to prisoner release, but we knew that we could not have an agreement if we did not have an agreement that allowed prisoners to be released who were serving time for being involved in the conflict. They were represented in the talks by the loyalist parties and by Sinn Féin. They made it very cogent and real that part of the negotiations was that prisoners should be released. I thought there would be more opposition to that but in fact, in the end, it was seen as fair that people should have early release for the sake of the agreement.

The release of prisoners was a huge thing in my head as a lawyer given that it was going to unravel justice that had been given by the courts. These were the things we had to absorb. We had to say it was worth it for the sake of peace that we would have an early release programme of prisoners. Sometimes I think that the things that where huge in people's minds at the time ended up being accepted quite easily in the end. The legacy legislation, however, is opposed by all of the parties. It is opposed by the Irish Government as well. I would support that position.

With regard to the Omagh bombing, I was glad to see that the British Government announced a full judicial inquiry into that. That fell outside the legislation of course. I remember that time in Omagh. I had passed through Omagh the previous day on my way back from Donegal. I was coming down to a christening in Dublin.

It was roasting hot and very good weather in August. There was very little security in Omagh that day because, with demilitarisation, everything had been relaxed. It was four months after the agreement. There were children wandering around, eating ice creams and sitting on walls. It was such a shock to everybody when that happened. It broke my heart at the time. We felt that we had lulled people into a sense of security in these towns, because the demilitarisation had started and there was not the security there had been in Omagh for years. This bomb happened, which was heartbreaking. I am glad there will be a full investigation into how that could have been handled better. Sadly, victims have had very little justice over the years arising from the Omagh bombing.

That is my view on the legacy legislation. I oppose it and I think the British Government is just trying to protect its own security forces.