FAMILIES gathered outside the law courts in Belfast this morning ahead of a judgement by the Court of Appeal on the British government’s controversial Legacy Act.
Relatives of victims of the conflict lodged a legal challenge against the Act on the grounds that it and its associated Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) is not independent.
Lending their support to the families were Relatives for Justice (RFJ) and the Pat Finucane Centre. Shoes of victims were laid out on the street outside the courts alongside short biographies explaining who each person was and how they had died.
Irati Oleaga from RFJ called on the new Labour government to deliver on its promise and scrap the Legacy Act, adding that the ICRIR “had to go” as it doesn't deliver for victims and survivors.
Paul O’Connor from the Pat Finucane Centre said: “This is the first part of the vehicle within the peace process that has not been internationalised. Every other solution that we found, we found by bringing in international figures as part of it, whether it was policing, prisoners’ early releases, but that hasn’t been done.
“This is a Tory-appointed Commission. The Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery is not independent, it’s not going to bring about reconciliation and it’s not human rights compliant. It’s rejected by families and that’s the only thing that’s important.”
Chris Moran
One of those protesting this morning was Turf Lodge man Chris Moran.
His brother John was one of three people who died as a result of a loyalist gun and bomb attack on Kelly’s Bar on the Springfield Road on May 13 1972. Thomas McIlroy also died in the attack. Chris’ brother-in-law Gerard Clarke died from his injuries several years’ later.
The inquest into his brother’s death collapsed just hours before the introduction of the Legacy Act.
Chris said his family will not be taking part in the ICRIR, particularly as its Commissioner for Investigations is former senior RUC and PSNI officer, Peter Sheridan.
“We are down here today trying to do away with the Legacy Act,” he said. “We have no faith in the ICRIR either. As soon as anyone comes across anything sensitive, they are automatically going to slap an immunity certificate on it saying that you can’t get to see that information.
“We put that to Declan Morgan (Chief Commissioner ICRIR) and told him that we wouldn’t be dealing with him."
