UUP comment on Irish Government announcement of inter-state legacy case

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UUP comment on Irish Government announcement of inter-state legacy case

Speaking after the announcement by the Irish Government on their decision to commence an inter-state case against the UK Government, UUP leader Doug Beattie MC MLA commented;

"The Ulster Unionist Party have been clear in our opposition to the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act. On multiple occasions we have challenged both the United Kingdom Government and the Irish Government over their inaction regarding legacy. We were the only one of the five main political parties to oppose the Stormont House Legacy mechanisms that gave virtual amnesties to those involved in troubles related crime short of murder.

 "The news that the Irish Government will take an Interstate Case against the United Kingdom is not surprising.  With an election year on the horizon they will have taken that opposition attack line off the table.  This might sound cynical; but the reality is the Irish Government have done nothing to address the legacy of our past, they have refused to open parallel mechanisms or deal with the very real fact that Ireland was not an innocent bystander in the troubles.

 "My concern that somehow the solution is to return to Stormont House, where those who were left blind, burned, limbless or physiologically damaged will not receive an investigation purely because they dared to live.  Likewise to say, as the Stormont House Agreement says, that if you were murdered outside of Northern Ireland you will not get an investigation or if you had a Historical Enquiries Team desktop review you will be bypassed is certainly not the answer.

 "Any interstate case will go through the courts and there will be an outcome at the end.  But if both the United Kingdom Government and the Irish Government are not willing to fix the wrongs of the past then it will be the victims who suffer once again."