Leo Varadkar 'deeply alarmed' at proposed British amnesty for killers in Troubles

UK reportedly set to introduce a statute of limitations to stop people being charged over incidents that occurred before the Good Friday Agreement

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar: "Such a move by the British government would fly in the face of the Stormont House agreement and Dublin would be opposed to it." File picture: Julien Behal 

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said he and the Government are “deeply alarmed” by reports of a British amnesty for killers in the Northern Ireland Troubles.

The British government is reportedly set to introduce a statute of limitations to stop people being charged over incidents that occurred before the Good Friday Agreement.

Speaking in the Dáil, Mr Varadkar said such a move by the British government would “fly in the face of the Stormont House agreement and Dublin would be opposed to it".

Mr Varadkar said the Government is opposed to such a move, adding that it “stands with the victims".

“The Government and myself personally were deeply alarmed by reports that we read about the possibility that the British government may consider providing an amnesty or putting in place a statute of limitations in relation to offences that occurred during the Troubles in Northern Ireland,” he said.

“This would fly in the face of the Stormont House agreement, would fly in the face of the New Decade, New Approach agreement.”

Mr Varadkar said anything like this would have to have the agreement of the parties in Northern Ireland and it does not.

It's something that we would not support, as a Government, because we stand with the victims and the families who have been bereaved and damaged as a consequence of these actions. 

"They have a right to know what happened, and they have a right to justice. Whether the murderers were British soldiers or republicans or loyalists, they should be brought to justice,” Mr Varadkar said.

Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald TD said the reports that the British government will bring forward an amnesty for British soldiers involved in the murders of Irish citizens is a devastating blow for families seeking truth and justice and yet another clear breach of international agreements.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

“The proposals being reported in London this morning that the British government is going to tear up international agreements on legacy to give British forces immunity from prosecution is a devastating blow to the families of victims of the conflict,” she said.

“Many of these families have spent decades trying to get the truth about the killings of their loved ones in the face of cover-up, wilful destruction of evidence, and failures to investigate crimes including murder. 

"What Boris Johnson and the British government is doing is an attempt to put British soldiers above the law and prevent investigations into murder, torture, shoot to kill, and collusion involving British forces in Ireland,” Ms McDonald said.

This is an attack on the rule of law.

Labour’s Brendan Howlin said any unilateral decision made by the British government to breach the agreement, arrived at in 2014 in Stormont House talks, is a totally retrograde step.

“Added to tensions and real difficulties that have followed in the wake of Brexit, it means that real tensions now exist between communities in Northern Ireland, a situation that we'd hoped we'd left behind us,” he said.