Ulster Human Rights Watch (UHRW) is urging the UK Government to consider taking the Government in Dublin to Court over its ‘outrageous failings’ on legacy.
Earlier in the month, the Republic of Ireland Government warned that it could take a case against the UK in the European Court of Human Rights because of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill.
The Lurgan-based human rights body says it is hypocritical of the Irish Government to adopt such a threatening stance when it itself refuses to legislate on the vexed issue of the past.
UHRW Advocacy Manager, Axel Schmidt, said: “We don’t like what is being pushed through Westminster, but the threat from the Irish Government rings hollow.
“The Irish Government seems to want it all their own way, yet they shy away from shining a light on what the Republic of Ireland did and didn’t do during the ‘Troubles’. One has to ask why the reluctance? Why are they opposed to dealing with the legacy of the past and what are they so determined to hide?
“Their hands are far from clean when you consider the number of barbaric attacks that were planned and launched from the safe haven across the border. For decades the terrorists walked freely and even today, there are people living there who were never made amenable for their crimes. A case in point is the self-confessed gunrunner and former priest, Father Patrick Ryan.
“What we see here is a hypocritical stance being adopted by Dublin, one that is unbalanced and disingenuous. Irrespective of whether the Republic of Ireland carries out its threat of taking the UK Government to the European Court of Human Rights, the UK Government should give urgent consideration to launching legal proceedings of its own against Dublin over its outrageous failings to allow terrorist murderers and bombers to escape justice and carry out vile acts in Northern Ireland against innocent victims.
“Dublin needs to be given a strong message that it appeared to have been complicit in what was done in the name of Irish republicanism.”
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