Irish government warns against the UK shielding Troubles soldiers from prosecution
The Irish government has urged against the UK protecting former soldiers who served in Northern Ireland during the Troubles from facing prosecution, a foreign ministry spokesman said.
It was reported by the Daily Telegraph yesterday that the UK government is looking to propose a ban on prosecutions of Northern Irish veterans, under new legislation to be announced next week.
Dublin had strongly advised London “against any unilateral action on such sensitive issue,” the spokesman for foreign minister Simon Coveney said today.
Northern Ireland’s deputy first minister also said any such move by London would not be acceptable.
Allegations over unresolved crimes from Northern Ireland’s ‘Troubles’, its sectarian conflict which lasted three decades, which saw confrontation between Irish nationalist militants, pro-British “loyalist” paramilitaries and British military.
The Troubles killed around 3,600 people and has remained a controversial issue for the 23 years following its peace treaty.
The ban on prosecutions meddles with tensions in the British-run region, where young pro-British loyalists rioted in recent weeks as post-Brexit trade barriers stoked division.
If the UK went ahead with its plan, it would be “a cynical move that will put British forces beyond the law,” Northern Ireland’s deputy first minister Michelle O’Neill, said.
O’Neill added on Twitter yesterday that it would be “another slap in the face to victims.”