A NEW legacy deal has been agreed between the British and Irish Governments with the joint framework published today.
Launched by Tánaiste Simon Harris and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Hilary Benn at an event held in Hillsborough Castle, The Legacy of the Troubles: A Joint Framework will replace Britain’s controversial Legacy Act.
“The Joint Framework provides for sweeping reforms of the mechanisms designed to address the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and across this island,” Mr Harris said.
“Agreement on the framework represents a welcome return to a partnership approach on Northern Ireland by the two governments.”
He added: “As co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement, that partnership is essential to progress peace and reconciliation on this island.
“The 2023 UK Legacy Act was unilaterally conceived, unilaterally drafted, and unilaterally implemented. Today is a step-change from that.
NI Secretary Hilary Benn and Tánaiste Simon Harris hold the joint framework at Hillsborough Castle (Pic: NI.gov.uk)“The Joint Framework will bring about root and branch reform of the UK Legacy Act and the commission it established.”
Elements within the framework include lifting the current ban on taking civil cases related to the Troubles period in Northern Ireland and restoring inquests which were stopped under the Legacy Act legislation.
The new deal will also “completely overhaul” the independence and governance of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), which will be renamed the Legacy Commission and have a statutory Independent Oversight Board, a Victims and Survivors Advisory Group and an independent appointments panel advising on senior appointments.
“In summary, the Joint Framework provides routes to truth and accountability for those most affected by the violence of the Troubles,” Mr Harris said.
“The Irish Government made clear from the outset that any agreed joint approach to legacy by the two governments would need to meet two tests; compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights, and capable of securing the support of those most affected, especially the families of those killed.
“I believe that this framework, faithfully implemented, can deliver on those two goals,” he added.
“I am fully aware that winning the confidence of families will take time.
“Since the beginning of the year, I have listened to victims’ families and those working to support and represent them. For them, delivery is the real, and only, test.
“I believe that what we have agreed can deliver for families.”
Mr Benn is similarly confident that their new deal will support all who have been affected by the Troubles.
“As Secretary of State I have been determined to help those families, who lost loved ones in the Troubles, including relatives of the families of British service people who did not come home, to find the answers they have long been seeking,” he said.
“The previous government’s flawed, undeliverable and widely opposed Legacy Act has caused great pain and anguish to many people in Northern Ireland.
“I believe that this framework, underpinned by new co-operation from both our governments, represents the best way forward to finally make progress on the unfinished business of the Good Friday agreement.
“And I hope that having read what we are proposing, the communities who were most affected by the Troubles will see this as a way forward in which they can have confidence, and will therefore give this plan a fair chance.”