Michael McGrath: UK's legacy bill could do real damage to NI society
Professor Brendan O’Leary, University of Pennsylvania; UCC president, Professor John O’Halloran; Dr Mary C Murphy, UCC; and Finance Minister Michael McGrath at the University College Cork event in Cork City to mark the 25th anniversary of the passing of referenda on the Good Friday Agreement. Picture: Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision
The British government's contentious Legacy Bill "has the potential to do real damage to society across Northern Ireland”, Finance Minister Michael McGrath has said.
Mr McGrath, who was speaking at a Cork event to mark the passing of referenda on the Good Friday Agreement 25 years ago, also called on leadership in the North who have stalled the business of Stormont to get back to powersharing.
Last week's local elections in the North "should hopefully now provide new impetus for the restoration of institutions over the weeks ahead", Mr McGrath said.
The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill, commonly known as the Legacy Bill, would provide immunity for people accused of crimes during the Troubles if they co-operate with a new truth recovery body.
However, it would also put a stop to potential inquests and civil cases, which has been roundly condemned by victims' groups and political parties, leading to demonstrations in Belfast.
The Time for Truth campaign has said the Legacy Bill is a way for the British government to suppress the prosecution of war crimes in the North, while the former police ombudsman for Northern Ireland, Nuala O'Loan, described the bill as "not fit for purpose".
The North's secretary of state Chris Heaton-Harris said in recent weeks that as-yet unannounced tweaks to it would be "game changing" and would "improve the bill dramatically'.
The Cork event at which Mr McGrath spoke, hosted by University College Cork's Centre for Executive Education at No 1 Lapp’s Quay, is the first outside of Dublin to mark the Good Friday Agreement.
The Finance Minister pointed to the stalled all-island strategic rail review as an example of the lack of a functioning executive in the north.
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) collapsed power-sharing there last year to protest at post-Brexit trading rules, meaning there is no functioning government or parliamentary assembly despite elections having taken place.
Mr McGrath said: "There is much more we can do to make travel on the island more efficient, to improve our interconnectedness. It takes about 6.75 hours to travel between Cork and Belfast by train. This lack of connectivity just makes it harder for people to develop and maintain meaningful and mutually beneficial relationships and connections, both personal and at a commercial level.
"The all-island strategic rail review is examining how we can bring people closer together right throughout the island... examining the feasibility of a higher speed rail link between Dublin, Belfast, and Cork. But at present, the release of the strategic rail review requires ministerial direction from the Department of Infrastructure in Northern Ireland.
"It's just one example of the ongoing challenges that the ongoing absence of an executive and assembly presents in making life better in Northern Ireland and right across the island."
