Ireland 'reluctantly' took UK to EU court over Northern Ireland legacy issues, says Tánaiste

Micheál Martin said the families of the Troubles victims 'deserve' answers

Tánaiste Micheál Martin said: “It is precisely because human rights remains at the heart of the successful process of peace and reconciliation that my Government — after exhausting every other path — took the decision to instigate an inter-State case at the European Court of Human Rights.” File picture

Ireland “reluctantly” took the United Kingdom to the European Court of Human Rights on legacy issues in Northern Ireland, but families of victims of the Troubles “deserve” answers, the Tánaiste has said.

In a speech at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington DC, Micheál Martin emphasised the importance of the recent re-establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly but said an “absent” part of the Good Friday Agreement had been a proper framework for “dealing with the past”.