Mr. Mark Thompson:

The Act was passed in the UK Parliament on 18 September. It is my understanding from speaking to some lawyers that you will have four months to lodge the interstate case. That will bring us to 18 January, so we have a ticking clock. We have two ticking clocks. We have a ticking clock in Belfast where the state is refusing to hand over information to coroners and is running down the clock to 1 May. Inquests will be shut down and will not be concluded because of that. We also have the ticking clock for the Irish Government to make up its mind about whether to take up the case by 18 January. That is where the families are stuck right now. The Deputy will appreciate that it is not a good place to be. Hence, our last hope and last option is that the UK Act is challenged by the Irish Government.

It was mentioned earlier about whether the Government will take it. As Professor Rolston rightly says, these are not decisions one will take lightly. Ultimately, however, this is a matter of the voice of all victims in the North, whether those are the disappeared, whether those are affected by republicans, loyalists or the state, or whether they are combatants or civilians, as the majority of people are. We are all saying we oppose this. We are all saying we do not want this. We are all saying there is a better consensus around the Stormont House Agreement. It would work and it was inclusive. We are all saying this to the Irish Government. I speak to the unionists and unionist victims every week. They are saying we all want the Irish Government to take this. There are private communications by many of these victims with some organisations. They say they should take it. We have until 18 January and we are saying it is the right thing to do. There is a legal and moral objective to do it. We are encouraging and urging the Irish Government to take the interstate case. It is the right thing to do.