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The British and Irish governments are to announce a new framework to deal with the legacy of Northern Ireland’s Troubles, in an effort to resolve an issue that has bedevilled politics in the region and relations between London and Dublin.
The proposals, to be outlined this afternoon, threaten to reopen a rift between the government and former soldiers who got amnesty from prosecution under the Legacy Act passed by the Conservative government in 2023.
They have already been criticised by Richard Dannatt, the former chief of general staff of the British army, who said it would be unacceptable to launch what he considered “vexatious” investigations against elderly soldiers for events in the 1970s.
Hilary Benn, the Northern Ireland secretary, and Simon Harris, Ireland’s foreign minister, are scheduled to publish the long-awaited proposals on Friday after a year of negotiations to overhaul the controversial Legacy Act.
The framework will outline legislation that both sides will need to pass to create a reformed agency tasked with investigating Troubles-era crimes.
The joint proposals reflect a reset in relations between Dublin and London after years of toxicity from Brexit and legacy-related disputes during successive Conservative administrations.
Intense behind-the-scenes talks between officials, and a meeting last week between Keir Starmer and the taoiseach, Micheál Martin, paved the way to the framework that Benn and Harris are to announce at Hillsborough Castle in County Down.
It will convert the independent commission for reconciliation and information recovery (ICRIR), which was established by the Legacy Act, into a new legacy commission with what are expected to be greater powers to investigate Troubles-era crimes. A separate agency will provide information retrieval to families seeking details about relatives’ deaths.
The Irish government wants the legacy commission to be compliant with the European convention on human rights. Dublin has a pending inter-state case against the UK at the European court of human rights that states the Legacy Act breached the convention by halting inquests, civil cases and criminal prosecutions. Officials indicated that Dublin would continue the case until the framework advanced towards legislation.
Dublin has stressed the need to win the confidence of victims’ groups that seek truth and justice for killings during the 30-year conflict. Many opposed the previous legacy dispensation because it offered amnesty to combatants and all but extinguished any hope of prosecutions.
The British government also wants the endorsement of victims’ groups but is under pressure from army veterans’ groups and their allies to shield former soldiers from prosecutions that some have depicted as witch-hunts.
Although the full details will not be revealed until Friday afternoon, the move away from the Legacy Act is expected to be fought by veterans who could face prosecution over alleged murders in the 1970s during the Troubles.
Lord Dannatt told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday it was “unacceptable that 30, 40, 50 years later former soldiers in their 60s, 70s, and possibly their 80s, are being taken back to events that happened in the 70s”.
He said it “defied logic” that evidence that “could not be adduced” back then could be produced now.
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Dannatt said though the Legacy Act was politically unpopular, it worked for veterans. “Although it was unpopular with all political parties in Northern Ireland, it did benefit military veterans in many ways. So what I would look to see is reassurance with the new arrangements that we’re not going to see a return to, I think, what can be fairly called vexatious investigations,”
Mark Thompson, the chief executive of Relatives for Justice, told Radio 4 he had an issue with Dannatt’s claims that investigations would be “vexatious”.
“What people need to understand in the UK is that, I would say almost 400 killings by the British soldiers, the majority were carried out against unarmed civilians, men and women and children, to which there was never any investigation. Indeed, British soldiers were treated as witnesses rather than suspects,” he said.
The 1998 Good Friday agreement sidestepped legacy – a catch-all term for unresolved Troubles-era killings by paramilitaries and security forces – and left bereaved families to seek answers and justice via inquests and prosecutions. The cases have stretched police resources and polarised politics.
Both governments and Northern Ireland’s main political parties agreed a joint approach to legacy in 2014 but the deal was not implemented. Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak attempted to resolve the issue unilaterally but the Legacy Act prompted an outcry from unionists, nationalists and Dublin. Labour promised to repeal the legislation.
The Irish government has committed to cooperate with the new legacy mechanisms and investigate crimes committed south of the border – a key demand of critics who say Dublin has ignored questions about the Irish state’s role during the Troubles.
Gerry Kelly, a Sinn Féin assembly member, said families of victims and survivors would scrutinise the proposals and be the most important voice in the process. “History shows us that we should judge this on what is passed into law, as opposed to what is promised,” he said.
