Bishops decry plans for Troubles amnesty

The British government’s plan to ban all Troubles-related criminal and civil actions as well as legacy inquests, has been described as “deeply disheartening” and would “perpetuate pain” according to Irish bishops.

The Primate of All-Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh and Bishop Donal McKeown of Derry both criticised last week’s announcement.

Archbishop Eamon said that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s comments in the House of Commons which suggested that his legacy proposals would allow Northern Ireland to draw a line under the Troubles were, “naive”.

“The decision… will be seen by many victims as a betrayal of trust which denies justice to them and to their loved ones,” Archbishop Eamon said in a statement.

“It is disturbing that victims and survivors, those [who] have paid the highest price for the fragile peace we all enjoy today, once more feel marginalised and neglected.

“At this painful time I ask for prayers of comfort for victims suffering on all sides in the conflict, and for truth and justice to prevail in the interest of the common good,” he said.

Bishop McKeown said in a homily in St Eugene’s Cathedral in Derry on Sunday that a “system that appears to prioritise the feelings of the perpetrators over the distress of the victims is guaranteed only to perpetuate the pain, not draw a line under it”.

He said there are so many people still “hurting” after the Troubles and the majority who died were not combatants.

“The effect of the current government proposals on legacy is to prevent too much prying into dark corners of a dirty war,” he said. “That will protect reputations but will not help the hurting ones for whom Jesus was most concerned.”

Archbishop Eamon said that the 2014 Stormont House Agreement, signed up to “in good will by all parties, sought to deal with our legacy in a collaborative and honest way which respected fully the input of victims in achieving consensus”.

“It is therefore deeply disheartening to witness a key signatory renege on this joint commitment,” he said.

Brandon Lewis told the House of Commons last Wednesday about the plan to introduce a statute of limitations until 1998, banning all prosecutions of Troubles-related killings and other crimes in the autumn.

The plan would mean there would be no future prosecutions of former British soldiers and police officers or paramilitaries, republican or loyalist.