Latest news with #LegacyAct
Sunday World
2 days ago
- Politics
- Sunday World
Government dismisses UVF demand for members to be issued with personal protection guns
In Northern Ireland, individuals can legally possess firearms, including handguns, for personal protection under specific circumstances Government negotiators have dismissed UVF demands for senior members to be issued with personal protection weapons. The outlandish request is believed to have been dismissed out of hand as a condition for the terror group to finally transition away from paramilitary activity. The UVF have been locked in discussions with government negotiators for a number of years and are understood to be nearing a position where they can announce their disbandment. Early obstacles included demands for immunity from prosecution for historical conflict-related crimes. The contentious Legacy Act has virtually removed any likelihood of prosecution, even should the Labour government honour its manifesto commitment and repeal the act. Twenty-seven years after the Good Friday Agreement secured peace, there is no legal framework for decommissioning, leaving negotiators tying to find a verifiable way to show weapons have been put beyond use. Armed UVF men on the streets of Belfast during the Troubles There is an acceptance that any form of decommissioning will only be windrow dressing in any deal to stand down – access to weaponry doesn't present any difficulty for criminal gangs. The streets are awash with guns, the sticking point for the UVF are weapons that might have a forensic history linking them to past crimes. But it's is their demand for leading paramilitary figures to be allowed to carry personal protection weapons (PPW) that has raised eyebrows. In Northern Ireland, individuals can legally possess firearms, including handguns, for personal protection under specific circumstances. The final arbiter is the PSNI who grant firearms certificates for personal protection if there's a real and immediate risk to the applicant's life. Police must be happy a gun is deemed a necessary and proportionate measure. Applicants must demonstrate a 'good reason' and undergo thorough checks, including medical and law enforcement records. The latter would appear to rule out anyone with a paramilitary history. PPWs were commonplace during the conflict, with public figures including politicians, members of the judiciary and members of the civil service being given a handgun. There has been precedents with a number of leading paramilitary figures allowed to carry PPWs. There has been speculation that the UVF was ready to make a declaration as early as this autumn. Optimism was dampened when it emerged they had demanded to be allowed to retain an armed force of around 240 men, in their words, to protect the upper echelons of the terror group. The Sunday World understands they have now modified their demands and scaled them down to a call for a small number of PPWs to be issued which would mean UVF paramilitaries legally carrying guns. Security sources have told us the proposal is a non-starter. 'It would be unthinkable to strike a deal that would legally put guns in the hands of terrorists, they're gong to have to find a way round that,' one said. Loyalist sources have told us there is anger at the top of the UVF that bargaining positions are finding their way into the public domain. John 'Bunter' Graham One source, who has intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the UVF, said only a handful of people from Chief of Staff John 'Bunter' Graham down would have any knowledge of the content of discussions with British government representatives. As previously reported, it is known that a sizeable number of UVF members and sections of the UDA have been negotiating a pathway out of the paramilitaries, but do not represent the entirety of the organisations. They are believed to be close to agreeing the terms of their transition but their priority in discussions has been to maintain the flow of public money into community-based jobs, many of which are occupied by paramilitary members, and immunity from prosecution for historical crimes. In February it was announced that the British and Irish governments were to jointly appoint 'an Independent Expert to carry out a short scoping and engagement exercise to assess whether there is merit in, and support for, a formal process of engagement to bring about paramilitary group transition to disbandment. This will include examining what could be in scope of such a formal process'. Lord Alderdice, the former Alliance Party leader who was chair of the Independent Monitoring Commission, said talks about loyalist transition should stop. 'A halt should be called, and you can't call a halt now sooner than today,' he said. 'There comes a point when you have to say no, this hasn't been delivered.' The Sunday World understands a sticking point in discussions are calls for the UVF to be de-proscribed so that the name can continue to be used legally at memorial and other events. And also in the naming of veterans clubs, the complication being that those who will continue to use the UVF name as a cover for their involvement in drugs and other crimes. UVF gunman Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 21st
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
The Irish Times view on the Legacy Act: repeal plans hit a roadblock
The British government's plan to repeal the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act has run into a predictable roadblock in the form of backbench MPs who represent important constituencies with significant numbers of former soldiers. The backbenchers have threatened to vote against the repeal legislation being brought forward by Hilary Benn, the secretary of state for Northern Ireland, because of concerns that it would leave former members of the security forces at risk of being pursued over actions taken while serving in Northern Ireland. The UK's veterans minister, Alistair Carns, has said he will resign if it is passed. The exposure of former and current service personal – and by extension the British state – was uppermost in the mind of the Conservative government when it brought in the Legacy Act in September 2023, despite the opposition of all political parties in Northern Ireland. The act put an end to any civil actions and independent inquests into Troubles-related deaths. It offered an alternative route by which victims and their families could seek answers. An independent information recovery body – the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery – was established and given the power to grants amnesties to those who cooperated with it. This would have offered former security force personnel and other participants protection. READ MORE This power to grant amnesties was subsequently found by the British courts to be incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights and the British government's commitments under the Windsor Framework, agreed with the EU as part of the Brexit process. Labour committed to repealing the Legacy Act in its election manifesto and Benn initiated the process last December by announcing legislation to remove the conditional immunity clause from the act and also allow new civil actions and inquests to proceed. Cross party opposition to Benn's plans coalesced around a parliamentary petition instigated by a former British Army officer which has garnered close to 180,000 signatures, triggering a heated debate in the House of Commons last week. British prime minster Kier Starmer is still licking his wounds after his backbenchers forced a climb-down over welfare reforms. He may well be tempted to long finger the Legacy Act reforms. The contradictory stance of some Unionist politicians may well give him some cover. Having opposed the Legacy Act, they are now opposing its repeal over fears that members of the security forces could be prosecuted. The Taoiseach is due to discuss the issues with the British prime minister, but it remains to be seen whether Starmer has the stomach to face down his backbenchers over the issue.
RTÉ News
5 days ago
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Taoiseach, UK PM agree to work 'constructively' on Legacy Act issues
The Taoiseach Micheál Martin spoke with the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer by phone this afternoon, with both leaders agreeing to work constructively on a framework for dealing with issues surrounding the Northern Ireland Legacy Act. Mr Starmer's government has come under pressure in recent days, with his Veterans Minister Alistair Carns reported to have threatened his resignation should British soldiers lose their immunity. The UK government has committed to repealing and replacing the controversial legislation, however some Labour backbenchers have expressed concern. Ireland took an inter-state case against the UK under the European Convention of Human Rights, after the former Conservative government introduced the law. Today's phone call between Mr Martin and Mr Starmer was part of regular dialogue between both leaders and they agreed to continue working "constructively" on the Legacy Act. Separately, it is understood that Mr Starmer also thanked the Taoiseach for Ireland's support of the recent EU-UK Summit and subsequent agreement. During a "constructive" and "warm" phone-call, both leaders also talked about the Ireland-UK 2030 strategy which was agreed at the recent Ireland-UK Summit last march. It saw both countries sign up to closer cooperation in a number of areas including energy, security and trade. The relationship between both governments is understood to have improved significantly in recent months, since Mr Starmer embarked on a "reset" in relations between the UK, Ireland and other EU countries.
Irish Post
6 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Post
Protest and policing concerns echo past bans
Honorary Professor of Practice at Queen's University Belfast BRIAN DOOLEY reports on a London symposium on human rights Gareth Peirce (image by Martin Gavin) AT A SOLD-OUT event in London, prominent human rights lawyer Gareth Peirce compared the recent crackdown on free speech over Palestine at Glastonbury with the banning of the 1988 Song Streets of Sorrow/The Birmingham Six. Peirce's legal career has involved representing members of the Birmingham Six and Guildford Four — all wrongly sentenced to long years in prison for IRA activity including terrorism — and was part of the legal team representing Kneecap's Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh who was charged under terrorism legislation for allegedly display a flag supporting Hezbollah. The charges were subsequently dropped The event at St Ethelburga's Centre for Peace and Reconciliation also discussed the wider repression of protest in Britain, and the findings of an international panel of experts into British state impunity during the Northern Ireland conflict. Dr Aoife Duffy, Senior Lecturer at the University of Essex and a member of the expert panel explained why, after examining hundreds of cases of killings, torture and collusion, we had concluded in our report Bitter Legacy that there had been 'widespread, systemic and systematic' impunity afforded to British security forces during the conflict. Paul O'Connor of the Derry-based Pat Finucane Centre, briefed on the Sean Brown case, and why holding a full independent public inquiry into the 1997 Loyalist paramilitary murder of the GAA man was now the only sensible option left to find out the truth about what happened. Daniel Holder of the Belfast-based Committee on the Administration of Justice provided context on latest efforts to reform and repeal the controversial Legacy Act, and why many families of the bereaved want the current mechanisms overhauled or scrapped, and replaced with better access to justice. Human rights lawyer Rajiv Menon spoke about the fight for justice for the families of those killed in the Hillsborough football disaster, and emphasised how it was years of campaigning by bereaved relatives of those killed which finally achieved a measure of truth about what happened, a sentiment echoed by Deborah Coles, Executive Director of INQUEST in the context of her work on deaths in police custody in England and Wales. The discussion provided a stark reminder that what happens in Britain has many echoes of the experience of Northern Ireland, in terms of a lack of police accountability, a dismissal of campaigns by bereaved families, and the long, slow struggle for justice. Brian Dooley is a member of the independent panel of experts on British impunity, senior advisor at NGO Human Rights First, and Honorary Professor of Practice at Queen's University Belfast reports on a London event focused on truth and accountability See More: Brian Dooley, Gareth Peirce, Human Rights
Belfast Telegraph
6 days ago
- Politics
- Belfast Telegraph
‘I fully support campaign to stop Legacy Act being repealed': ex-NI Veterans Commissioner gives signature to petition
Former Veterans Commissioner Danny Kinahan has revealed he signed a petition to stop the Government repealing the controversial Legacy Act. A protest was held in London earlier this week ahead of a Westminster Hall debate on the issue.
