Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney has hit out at the UK Government legacy plans, calling them a “radical departure” from the approach agreed between the two countries.
The Irish Government has repeatedly made clear its opposition to a proposed amnesty for Troubles offences.
The UK Government wants to bring in a statute of limitations on future prosecutions of military veterans and ex-paramilitaries for Troubles incidents predating April 1998.
However, these plans have faced delays, as well as strident opposition from victims’ families and all the political parties in Northern Ireland.
Politicians from all parties in the Republic of Ireland took the opportunity to condemn the UK Government proposals in the Irish Parliament on Wednesday.
The debate came after a police watchdog investigation into a series of loyalist murders.
Ombudsman Marie Anderson found the RUC had been engaged in “collusive behaviours” with loyalist killers in relation to the series of murders in the 1990s.
British Government proposals have caused deep upset and concern to victims and survivors
Mr Coveney said the investigation had “shone an absolutely necessary light on aspects of the conflict in Northern Ireland that deserve serious consideration in this house”.
He told the Dail that a one-side approach has never worked in Northern Ireland.
He said the UK and Irish governments must work together with parties in Northern Ireland to tackle the “complex and sensitive” issue.
“This is why the Stormont House Agreement, agreed in 2014, after a long and difficult period of negotiation, was a pivotal moment in the peace process on this island,” Mr Coveney told the Dail.
He said the UK approach is “essentially a proposal for an unconditional amnesty for those not yet convicted”.
He added: “British Government proposals have caused deep upset and concern to victims and survivors, who were understandably shocked by the idea that the avenue to justice open to all other victims of crime, but now somehow be closed off to them forever by law.”
He said the proposals have also caused “grave concern to international human rights bodies”.
Mr Coveney said: “They are without international precedent.
“We cannot countenance a situation in which families do not have access to a process of basic justice or where families would be left to once again fight through the courts for years to come to actually to challenge a Government-imposed process.
“We will continue to caution the British Government strongly against unilaterally legislating on these issues.
“We’ve also remained open and ready to engage seriously with them and others to find a way forward.
“Unilateral action here cannot work. It never works, in truth, when it comes to Northern Ireland.”
Mr Coveney said he has met families who have also urged the Irish Government to do more to deliver justice for the victims of crimes that had a cross-border element.
“It is essential that we recognise and respond to that challenge,” he said.
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald told the Dail: “The series of reports published by the police ombudsman illuminate in horrific detail what has been known for decades.”
She also attacked the UK legacy plans.
“Boris Johnson and his Government cannot ignore their responsibilities,” she said.
“They cannot be allowed to ride roughshod over the opportunity of all our communities to see that future made real. We’ve seen that happen far too many times.
“And so it is now the responsibility of the Irish Government to make sure that the British Government understands this and understands that this will not happen again.”
Concluding the debate, Mr Coveney stressed the importance of peace in Northern Ireland.
“There are young people in Derry, Belfast and Fermanagh who have not known the lived experience of conflict,” he said.
He said that when he meets victims, survivors and community groups, they give him a clear message: “Until the legacy of the past can be addressed, society will continue to carry the burden of the past into the future.”
Mr Coveney said that wounds will not heal by simply deciding it is time to move on.
If an amnesty was introduced, he predicted “extended years of hardship, legal challenge and pain for many years”.
