Two Letters on Legacy of Troubles in the Irish News
Please see below two letters published in the Irish News today, March 26th, 2024. We think that the contents of both speak for themselves
From Gerry Armstrong - My brother’s memory will never be forgotten
LISTENING to Talkback recently, to say I was traumatised would not really be strong enough a word to describe my feelings. I actually had to listen to it again on catch-up radio to try to digest and make sure I really heard some of the comments made. I will allude to some here.
So the British government has suffered a huge blow with the High Court in Belfast ruling that its toxic Legacy Act is in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. Some commentators are under the impression that this is a vindication for families, then this word reconciliation crops up again.
I ask, as I have said many times before, who has my family to reconcile with? Furthermore, a vindication of what? As has been stated, anyone seeking absolute truth needs their head examined. It was also quite rightly stated the fact that not one single national newspaper covered this story – at least The Irish News did cover it.
Many programmes, plays, documentaries and books have for decades alluded to our sorry, troubled past, which if the truth be really told, I’m told to forget – draw a line, get on with your life.
But here is a stark reality for the reader. Paul Armstrong who was just 18 years of age was abducted by the UVF on November 8 1974, tortured and was brutally murdered. He never got much of a chance of life.
I refuse to let him ever be forgotten, as some would just like him swept under a very dirty carpet.
GERRY ARMSTRONG Belfast BT17
2. Time for honest review of how we investigate atrocities of the past
THE rejection of key elements of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act by Mr Justice Colton in the Belfast High Court, the conclusion of the £40 million Kenova investigation without producing one case that meets the requirements for launching a prosecution, and the failure of the last ‘supergrass’ trial to produce any convictions in the trials into the murders of Eamon Fox and Gary Convie, are just the latest cruel demonstrations of the inability of the courts to secure truth and justice for victims in so many cases, let alone promote reconciliation.
It is really time for politicians, who have told us privately that they believe the Truth Recovery Process offers a better way forward, to have the courage of their convictions and say so publicly.
Nobody, particularly victims and survivors, should have their access to the courts to pursue truth and justice curtailed. But neither should those who wish to do so be denied the possibility of finding out what happened, and why, through other means.
The Truth Recovery Process is based on conditional amnesties that would be offered where: a) Victims and survivors agree to such an option. b) The process would be subject to oversight by the British and Irish governments. c) Victims and survivors would still be compensated by the state. e) Former combatants’ testimony would be subject to verification. f) Former combatants could not incriminate others. g) Mediation would be the basis of engagement, not the legal arena. h) Reconciliation would be the objective.
It was this approach, based on reconciliation, that led to the successful conclusion of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement.
Finally, one of the issues that the Legacy Act does not address is how it would proceed in cases that involve former combatants living in the Republic whom it believes have a case to answer.
Will the Irish government, state agencies and the courts cooperate with British legislation when that legislation is the subject of a member state case to the ECHR on the basis that it contravenes Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights?
It is time for an honest review of how we investigate the awful atrocities of the past, on all sides, with the aim of not alone addressing the needs of the tens of thousands of people affected but society as a whole.
PADRAIG YEATES Truth Recovery Process Portmarnock, Dublin 13
