Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy would expect, I had a very long meeting with Karen Bradley last night on this issue. At the end of the meeting, I asked her to state publically what she stated to me when I asked her for reassurance from her Government that it was still committed to the Stormont House framework on dealing with legacy issues in Northern Ireland and that it would move forward on that basis. I asked her to confirm that it could not and would not support any form of amnesty or Statute of Limitations that would mean that certain killings would not be fully investigated because of who the perpetrators may have been. I made very clear to the Secretary of State the impact that her statement earlier that day in Westminster would have on many families who were deeply hurt and very sceptical about whether they would be able to get truth and justice through the proposed legacy framework. I think she accepted all of those things and there is a strong attempt by her today to provide clarification. I understand that she may be in Belfast later this evening and may comment further but I think the apology and the confirmation that any evidence of wrongdoing should be pursued without fear or favour, whoever the perpetrators might be, is the kind of language consistent with what was agreed at Stormont House. That is what the two Governments need to recommit to: there is no other approach to legacy and dealing with it in a way that finds truth and justice for everybody and hopefully move society towards a process of reconciliation on the back of that truth. The Government will not support any other approach apart from what has been agreed between the two Governments and supported by the political parties, including Sinn Féin, in the Stormont House Agreement.

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