Attorney General’s legacy proposals – Gerry Adams calls for ‘measured and inclusive debate on all the issues involved’

‘I am looking to the Irish Government to encourage a joined-up inclusive, thoughtful discussion aimed at unshackling us from the past’ – Gerry Adams

THE suggestion by the North’s Attorney General, John Larkin, that there should be no further police investigations, inquests or inquiries into killings that took place before the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 is being considered by Sinn Féin.

While welcoming the fact that the talks being chaired by US former special envoy Richard Haass to express their opinions, including victims, Gerry Adams disputed the Attorney General’s claim that that the current position ‘favours non-state forces’.

“That is not the case,” Gerry Adams said. “To all intents and purposes, there is an amnesty for the British state forces and their allies.

“The British Government has also broken inter-government agreements and commitments to deal with outstanding cases like the killing of human rights lawyer Pat Finucane and has refused to release files on the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.

“I have not had the chance to read the AG’s submission but this issue is much bigger than simply the issue of prosecutions.”

The former MP for west Belfast added:

“Whatever mechanisms are agreed in the future they need to be victim-centred. The views of victims must be central to any effort to deal with the legacy of the past. Their voices must heard and respected and all victims must be treated on the basis of equality.

“As it stands, there is no single view from victims and survivors and it is unlikely that there will be one in the future. Some families seek truth; others seek a judicial process.

“Sinn Féin has proposed an independent international truth recovery process. It is our view that this sort of approach offers the best way forward for victims and survivors and the best way forward for trying to deal with the legacy of the conflict and the effect it has on the political process in the here and now.

“The two governments should facilitate this. The past cannot be an obstacle to dealing with the present or a pretext for refusing to build a new future.”

Speaking after Leader’s Questions in the Dáil on Wednesday, Gerry Adams said later:

“Our wider society needs to have this debate. We need a sensitive, measured, reasoned and intelligent debate on these issues.”

“I am an Irish republican. British Government involvement in Irish affairs and the partition of this country are in my view at the core of the problem but I recognise that others – for example, the unionists – have a different view and their own sense of truth and we need to set all of these narratives side by side and respect them all.

“How do we encourage such a debate? The starting point must be a recognition by the Irish Government that this is a crucial matter and that as a co-equal partner with the British Government it has a responsibility to look after everyone on this island including our unionist neighbours.

“In this context I am looking to the Irish Government to encourage a joined-up inclusive, thoughtful discussion aimed at unshackling us from the past.

“We need a process that can ensure that the past is never repeated and which is aimed at forging a more hopeful future for the people who have survived the conflict and for our children and grandchildren.

“In this respect, I am very conscious of the upcoming state visit by the President to Britain. It is important that these seismic changes can be measured by people not just in the palaces but also in the laneways and hillsides across this island.”