UK government must provide certainty to Troubles victims, Sinn Fein says

The UK government must provide certainty to Troubles victims and end the state of limbo they have been left in since Labour came to power, a Sinn Fein MP has said.

John Finucane was commenting after he and party vice president Michelle O’Neill met Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn in Belfast to discuss legacy issues.

Since taking office last year, the Labour government has pledged to repeal and replace some of the provisions of the contentious Legacy Act that was introduced by the last Conservative government, and bring forward a revised framework for dealing with cases linked to the Troubles.

The Irish government has been involved in the process, and political leaders in Dublin have said intensive engagement is ongoing to see if a “landing zone” can be arrived at in the coming weeks.

The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 halted scores of civil cases and inquests into Troubles deaths and also offered conditional immunity to perpetrators of conflict-related crimes in exchange for their co-operation with a new investigatory and truth recovery body.

The Act was opposed by all the main political parties in Northern Ireland, the Irish government and many victims’ representative groups.

In 2023, the Irish government initiated an interstate legal case against the UK in the European Court of Human Rights, claiming the Legacy Act breached the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The case remains active, with ministers in Dublin wanting to see how Labour resolves its concerns over the legislation before any decision is taken to withdraw the action.

Mr Benn’s engagement with Sinn Fein on Wednesday was part of a round of discussions with the main Stormont parties.

Alliance leader Naomi Long and deputy leader Eoin Tennyson also had a meeting at the NIO offices in Belfast city centre on Wednesday.

The UUP held an online meeting with Mr Benn while the SDLP’s discussions took place on Tuesday. The DUP will hold a meeting with the Northern Ireland Secretary at a later date.

After the Sinn Fein meeting, Mr Finucane said there was a need for families to have a route to seek truth and justice.

“Today was an opportunity for us to reiterate and speak on behalf of those families that have been treated disgracefully by the Legacy Act and that have been left in limbo really since Labour came into government last July,” he told reporters.

“Those families who have had their inquests halted, those families who have uncertainty and who, after many years, still find themselves in a position where they don’t know if they will receive truth and justice.”

Mr Finucane said he and Ms O’Neill also raised the case of murdered GAA official Sean Brown.

Mr Benn has applied for a Supreme Court appeal on judicial rulings in Belfast that compel him to establish a public inquiry into the 1997 murder by loyalist paramilitaries.

Mr Brown, 61, the then-chairman of Wolfe Tones GAA Club in the Co Londonderry town of Bellaghy, was ambushed, kidnapped and murdered as he locked the gates of the club in May 1997.

No-one has ever been convicted of his killing.

Mr Finucane said: “We made it very clear in the meeting that on behalf of Sean Brown’s family that there needs to be a full public inquiry established and announced without any further delay.

“We talked about the fact that five High Court judges here have endorsed consistently the family’s position and we criticised without any equivocation his (Mr Benn’s) decision to take this family, to take Bridie Brown (Mr Brown’s 87-year-old widow) and her family to London for an appeal.”

Alliance leader Ms Long described her meeting with Mr Benn as “constructive”.

“We’re very conscious of the impact that the legacy process and lack of a formal and comprehensive legacy process has had on victims, and our priority in all of this is to ensure that victims’ families’ rights and needs are properly respected in that process,” she said.

“We’re on record as having said that we don’t believe that the Legacy Act as passed by the last government is fit for purpose, and the courts agreed with us in that regard.

“I would have preferred if that Legacy Act had been repealed and replaced (in full) and we have said that. However, that’s not the space we’re in, and so what we are doing now is trying to ensure that whatever the Secretary of State brings forward is a clean and fresh start in terms of how we deal with legacy and one that puts the victims at the heart of all that we do.”

Ms Long, who is Stormont’s Justice minister, said achieving “consensus” on a new framework was key.

“We’re not in that space yet, but I remain hopeful that there is a possibility we could be in that space, and I think that that would be the best outcome for everyone,” she said.

“This being a contested space where nothing progresses, where nothing moves forward, is not good for families. It’s not fair on them that they are constantly at the whim of political change. What we need now is substantive progress.”

Ahead of Wednesday’s meetings, Mr Benn said the Government was committed to finding a system “capable of delivering for all families who are seeking answers around the loss of their loved ones”.

“I am continuing to work with all of the Northern Ireland parties over what should be included in that legislation,” he said.

“It is important that new legacy arrangements are capable of commanding the confidence of families and of all communities.”