Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Last weekend marked 50 years since the terrible slaughter of Bloody Sunday, a day nobody will ever forget. Having learned about it as we grew up or through various different formats, it is a day that will be always etched in our memories. On behalf of the Labour Party, my colleague, Deputy Duncan Smith, laid a wreath in Derry on Sunday. The day's events were a powerful and moving ceremony for all those who were killed and injured.

Despite half a century having passed, the impact of that day is so raw. It is a date and a time that is pencilled into Irish history. When we talk about legacy, truth and reconciliation, it can be very hard for those of us more removed from the direct impact of the Troubles to really appreciate what is at stake. I was struck by the remarks of Kay Duddy at the weekend when she made the following simple request to the British Parachute Regiment:

Please put your hands up and say you did it, so we can lay our wee brother to rest. My wee brother, Jackie Duddy, has been buried for 50 years but up to this minute in time, he hasn’t been laid to rest.

That struck a chord with me.

It says an awful lot about the current approach of the Johnson Tory Government that its plans for a de factoamnesty, driven by the demands of his backbenchers and cheerleaders and not the people of Northern Ireland, have managed to unite all the political parties North and South against those proposals. It is a unique achievement. The proposed statute of limitations by banning all prosecutions for Troubles-related killings, other crimes, legacy inquests and civil cases up to 1988 will not address the truth and justice Kay Duddy and so many others seek. There are people on many sides who have been involved in atrocities that cannot be forgotten, left in limbo or wiped out because history does not get wiped out.

Last August, my colleague, Deputy Howlin, joined a cross-party gathering of Deputies and Senators and members of the main Northern Ireland political parties to meet with a cross-community group of victims' campaigners to make clear our views on the proposals from the UK Government. They signed a document rejecting the one-sided proposals from the British Government. These proposals ride roughshod over the concerns of families and survivors in both communities and will poison any efforts for a truth recovery process. This is a serious breach of the Stormont House Agreement of 2014, which was reaffirmed in New Decade, New Approach in January 2020.

The recent Supreme Court ruling that the PSNI was wrong not to investigate the cases of the hooded men in 2014 confirms once again the need for a pathway to justice for all victims of the Troubles. At the heart of New Decade, New Approach was the restoration of the Executive after three years. What people in Northern Ireland want is to see progress on public services and a decent and fair society. That is a shared goal North and South. As I said in November, the biggest priority for everyone on this island should be getting a home and medical treatment and providing for their children, whether they live in Eastwall, Dublin or east Belfast. The pandemic showed us the reality of the interconnectedness of this island and the importance of co-ordinating our approaches on vital public services such as healthcare, transport and social services. So many of the commitments in New Decade, New Approach have not yet been started never mind implemented. Whether it is the anti-poverty strategy, integrated education, waiting lists or climate action, too much time has been lost on this island.

One of the key outstanding issues is the Irish language Act. It was expected to be moved in Westminster in January but it has yet to progress. At this stage, we would all welcome if this issue was addressed once and for all. It has gone on way too long. It took Labour MPs in our sister party in Westminster to finally deal with the issues of abortion and marriage equality, but there are still delays to the roll-out of healthcare for women with only partial services in many health trusts. Parties such as the DUP continue to try to roll that back, most recently in December. Unfortunately, Sinn Féin also abstained at one point on that Bill. Work on an integrated society and integrated education has hardly moved an inch. One of the reforms of New Decade, New Approach was to ensure that Northern Ireland could never again go three years without an Executive in place. The current brinkmanship and political games from, in particular, the DUP in regard to the protocol and future Executive is, sadly, all too familiar and, dare I say it, at this stage boring. Once again, they are trying to weaponise protocol checks at ports. The commitment to sustainable institutions is hardly enhanced by threats by the DUP to pull its Ministers out of the Northern Ireland Executive and failures to commit to a new Executive after the next elections. We all want the institutions set up by the Good Friday Agreement to succeed, but with the Assembly elections due in May, it is inevitable now that efforts to seek electoral advantage will take precedence over delivery of New Decade, New Approach. It is the worst of politics, unfortunately, at a time when we need politics the most.

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