Hillsboro: UK government announced Friday it will replace controversial legislation Violence in Northern Irelandpave the way for the restart of the investigation into the killings.
The Northern Ireland Trouble (Heritage and Reconciliation) Act 2023 came into effect last year under the leadership of the former Conservative Government of the UK, halting any investigation, civil cases and criminal prosecution related to Trouble.
The bill, which Dublin sued London, aims to promote reconciliation, claimed that the lives of more than 3,600 people ended nearly 30 years in Good Friday in 1998.
But it was a harsh criticism from victims and families who lost their loved ones, who said it was just because if they worked with Quiries, it offered conditional immunity to some sisters, including British soldiers and paramilitaries.
“The British government will repeal and replace the Heritage Act, including ending commitments to terrorist immunity and providing six new protections and rights to veterans,” London said in a statement.
The government added that the new legislation would allow “a small number of investigations that the legacy bill stopped on their tracks to recover.”
The agreement is a year of negotiations on addressing differences in legacy issues, which particularly under the Conservative Party’s rule that weakened Anglo-Ireland relations.
Hilary Benn, Secretary of Northern Ireland, said the new framework provides an opportunity to deal with the “unfinished business” of the Good Friday agreement.
Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister Simon Harris said the deal was the basis for a “deep transformation” in how to handle the legacy of trouble.
The plan includes renaming and reform of the controversial institutions – an independent committee on reconciliation and information recovery (ICRIR) established under the 2023 Legacy Act, which came into effect last May.
Many ceased civil cases and investigations include many suspected individuals involved in British security forces and paramilitary personnel, although the provision was later revoked after legal actions by the victim group.
Posted at Dawn on September 20, 2025
