The Troubles and truth recovery process

Irish Times, Letters, February 19th, 2024

Sir, – Despite the enormous hopes invested in Kenova, it should come as no surprise that all 28 of the 34 investigations submitted to the Public Prosecution Service so far have failed to meet the evidential threshold needed to warrant a criminal prosecution (News, February 6th).

The problem is essentially political, not legal. It was the failure of the parties to the Belfast Agreement to include some form of conditional amnesty that would draw a line under the Troubles that left so much “unfinished business” to be addressed. Eventually the problem was contracted out, by default, to the courts and the criminal justice system where it has festered ever since.

The legal system exists to deal with disputes that cannot be dealt with by any other means. It is literally the court of last resort designed to deal with difficult issues between individuals and, or groups that cannot be resolved through other means such as mediation and negotiation. When used to deal with the legacy of a bitter ethnic conflict the first casualty is reconciliation. The second comprises all of the individuals and families consigned to the tender mercies of the legal arena because there is nowhere else to go.

It is too late now to rewind to 1998 but it is still not too late for the British and Irish governments to come together and deal with the problem.

The Legacy Act should be repealed, and families who wish to do so should be allowed to prosecute their cases in the meantime in the absence of anything better.

Meanwhile both governments must negotiate a truth recovery process based on mediation and reconciliation for all those who wish to avail of it, and for the benefit of society at large on this island. – Yours, etc,

PADRAIG YEATES,

Secretary,

Truth Recovery Process,

Portmarnock,

Dublin 13.