Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

Last week, I and other members of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement went to London to speak to MPs, peers and Ministers on the legacy Bill. The legacy Bill gives an amnesty to murderers. It is the son and heir of the British cover-up of the actions they took. There were heinous murderers in the North for almost 50 years. It was a unilateral decision that ignored the Irish Government. It undermines the rule of law and the human right to justice. It turns Britain into an outlier and a rogue state. It is heaping pain and suffering on those who have already been so wronged so viciously by the British state.

In the meetings we had across the political spectrum in Westminster it became very clear that the British have no intention of turning on this issue. Some of the feedback we got was that the Irish Government has become quieter on this issue in recent times. The only influence the Irish Government has at this juncture is to challenge the legislation in the European Court of Human Rights. We were told in no uncertain terms by some of the peers and MPs that there is no point in waiting until the legislation has been passed before threatening to bring the British Government to the European Court of Human Rights. The horse will have bolted at that stage. There will be no turning back. I appeal to the Taoiseach to make a decision that the Government will state publicly the Irish Government will bring the British Government to the European Court of Human Rights if it continues on the trajectory that it is on at present with regard to the legacy Bill. This is the only way to protect the thousands of people in the North of Ireland who have been so wronged and will be wronged further.

Another point we got from peers, MPs and Ministers is that they agree that at this stage it is necessary to change the structure of the Assembly in the North whereby one political party can crash it. I encourage the Government to get active on this issue as soon as possible.

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