Relatives and campaigners mark one year of Legacy Act

Connla Young, Irish News, May 2nd, 2025

RELATIVES and campaigners have held a protest in Belfast to mark the first anniversary of the Legacy Act coming into operation.

The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 ended all inquests and civil cases, as well as introducing conditional immunity when it came into force on May 1st, last year.

Secretary of State Hilary Benn has said he intends to introduce a remedial order, which amends exiting legislation, to remove all provision relating to immunity and that future civil proceedings will be allowed to proceed.

The Labour MP also said he intends to introduce primary legislation to restore inquests, beginning with those halted by the legacy act.

After May 1st responsibility for Troubles cases transferred to the Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).

Many people impacted by the Troubles are strongly opposed to the ICRIR, believing it to be part of British government attempts to protect state participants from accountability.

ICRIR to be retained

While the British government plans to repeal the act, it intends to retain the commission.

Concerns have been raised about the body after it emerged that 10 former RUC officers and staff are employed by it.

Dozens of protesters gathered outside the offices of the ICRIR on Great Victoria Street in central Belfast yesterday morning.

Gary Duffy, whose great uncle Ambrose Hardy was shot dead by the British army more than 50 years ago, said the legacy act led to his relative’s inquest being halted.

One of the New Lodge Six, Mr Hardy died during two separate shooting incidents in north Belfast overnight between February 3 and 4 1973.

Three of the men were members of the IRA but were not involved in republican activities at the time.

“We cannot accept the inquest ending and this matter being investigated by the ICRIR,” he said.

“Our families, and I think all the families of victims, cannot trust the ICRIR and we would call on the British government to immediately reinstate all legacy inquests,” he said.

Mark Thompson of Relatives for Justice said “families are entitled to independent investigations that can publish the truth and hold those accountable for murdering their loved ones”.

‘No substitute for proper due process’

Grainne Teggart of Amnesty International said the ICRIR is “no substitute for proper due process”.

Daniel Holder from the Committee on the Administration of Justice said the “purpose of the legacy act was to shut down proper investigations that were delivering for families and replace them with the ICRIR”.

Among those present was Sinn Féin MP John Finucane, whose solicitor father Pat Finucane was shot dead by loyalists in 1989.

A spokeswoman for the ICRIR claimed more than 150 people have asked it to “investigate on their behalf”.

“Our doors are open to everyone,” she said.

“We are committed to building trust and confidence in our work and are working with government, stakeholders and wider society to promote the necessary legislative reforms to achieve that.”

Court of Appeal rules in favour of a public inquiry into the murder of Sean Brown

Anthony Neeson, Irish News, May 2nd, 2025 11:42

THE Court of Appeal in Belfast has affirmed a previous High Court ruling ordering the British government to hold a public inquiry into the LVF murder of GAA official Sean Brown.

This morning the family of Sean Brown were applauded by supporters as they arrived at the Court of Appeal.

On Wednesday Northern Ireland Secretary of State Hilary Benn sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court in London after a Belfast court ruled that the British government was acting illegally in failing to order a public inquiry into Mr Brown’s murder.

Sean Brown, 61, was shot dead after he was beaten and abducted by loyalists in 1997 as he closed the gates of Wolfe Tones GAC in Bellaghy, Co Derry. In February last year it emerged that more than 25 people, including British state agents, were linked to the sectarian murder, which no one has ever been convicted of.

Last month the Court of Appeal in Belfast ruled that the decision by the British government to refuse a public inquiry into Mr Brown's murder "cannot stand and is unlawful and in breach of Article 2 obligations”. Mr Benn was given four weeks to “reflect upon the judgement.”

Ahead of that deadline the British government moved to challenge the court findings. Mr Benn applied to the Court of Appeal in Belfast for further time to consider its judgment.

After hearing submissions this morning, Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan said judges were "minded to finalise this case today by way of dismissing this appeal".

Speaking earlier outside the Court of Appeal, Mark Thompson from victims’ group Relatives For Justice criticised the actions of the Secretary of State.

“What is happening here today is the culmination of a very lengthy process involving five High Court judgements that have all said that the British government need to provide an independent human rights compliant lawful investigation into the murder of Sean Brown," said Mark.

"The court has said on several occasion that the best way for the British government to discharge that legal obligation is by way of a public inquiry. The British government have challenged the courts and they have lost on appeal and they have lost at the Court of Appeal.

"The court of appeal provided a four week window for the Secretary of State to reflect on all of these judgements in a considered way and to give him the space to come back to say, well I’ve now heard all of these judgements and we will honour and we will accept the courts’ judgements. What instead Hilary Benn did just the other day was he released his position that he is not going to accept the courts’ rulings and that he is going to challenge it to the Supreme Court in London.”

Last month outside the Court of Appeal in Belfast, Bridie Brown made a direct appeal to Secretary of State Hilary Benn.

“Five judges have told you what to do," she said. "Do the right thing and please don’t have me going to London.”

Siobhan Brown on ‘disgraceful’ and ‘disrespectful’ British government towards her father’s death

Connla Young, Irish News, May 2nd, 2025

THE daughter of murdered GAA official Sean Brown has accused the British government of treating her family with “disrespect”.

Siobhan Brown was speaking after Secretary of State Hilary Brown confirmed he has asked the Court of Appeal for more time to consider a response to the court over the British government’s failure to hold a public inquiry.

Significantly, he has also “sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court” in London.

An appeal court last month ruled the British government’s refusal to hold a public inquiry into Mr Brown’s murder is “unlawful”.

The court also found it breaches Article Two obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights – which protect the right to life.

Mr Benn was given four weeks to “reflect upon the judgment”.

The case was due before the court again today.

The British government launched an appeal after a High Court judge had earlier ordered a public inquiry.

Prior to that a coroner sitting at an abandoned inquest last year, who is also a High Court judge, called for a public inquiry.

Mr Brown was attacked and beaten as he locked the gates at Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAC, in Co Derry, before being abducted and later shot dead near Randalstown, Co Antrim, in May 1997.

More than 25 people have been linked by intelligence to the murder, including several state agents.

After an appeal court hearing last month Mrs Brown delivered an impassioned plea to Mr Benn to “do the right thing and please don’t have me going to London”.

British Government to press ahead with Supreme Court appeal

The British government has now dismissed the elderly widow’s pleas.

Bridie Brown, the wife of Sean Brown, with his daughters Siobhan Brown, right, and Claire Loughran outside the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast last month

It emerged on Wednesday that Mr Benn disclosed the contents of what has been described as “private correspondence” to Mrs Brown to sections of the media in London just over 90 minutes after it was emailed to her solicitor.

Siobhan Brown revealed that her mother had not been told about the letter before the information was released and branded the move as “totally disgraceful”.

“And again, it is just another thing that the government tried to do to undermine us as a family and treat us with so much disrespect, which has happened right through the 28 years since my father was murdered,” she said.

Brown family solicitor Niall Murphy, of KRW Law, said on Tuesday he was “disgusted” by Northern Ireland Office attempts to “spin this appalling decision”.

Earlier this week Bridie Brown told The Irish News she is “terrified as to what secrets the British government are hiding”.

Her daughter Siobhan added “there’s obviously very dirty secrets there that the government want to keep from us as a family”.

“And they are going outright and taking all action that they possibly can to prevent that information coming out,” she said.

The inquest into Mr Brown’s death was halted before the former Tory government’s Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023, which ended all inquests and civil cases, came into operation on May 1 last year.

Responsibility for investigating Troubles cases has since transferred to the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), which has 10 former RUC officers and staff on its payroll.

Brown rejects ICRIR option

The Brown family has rejected British government suggestions they should engage with the ICRIR.

“There’s a lack on independence in relation to the ICRIR, there are ex-RUC officers as part of that team.

“And how can you possibly call that independent, whenever state agents, and I am assuming their handlers, were involved in my father’s murder and it takes away the total independence from that.”

Mr Benn said he is “committed to ensuring that there is a full, thorough and independent Article 2-compliant investigation into the murder of Sean Brown.

“I am taking steps to repeal and replace the previous government’s legacy act to ensure that we have a legacy system that is capable of delivering for all families who lost loved ones during the Troubles, and who are seeking answers,” he said.

The ICRIR has previously insisted it “has strong administrative mechanisms to address potential conflict of interest and enable it to exercise its functions with practical independence”.

‘He played a central role in helping to move us on’

Mark Robinson, Irish News, May 2nd, 2025

TRIBUTES FOLLOWING DEATH OF PIONEERING COMMUNITY WORKER

A ‘PIONEERING’ community worker in Derry has been remembered for his dedication to the sector and his commitment to peace and reconciliation following his death.

Eamonn Baker was aged in his seventies and passed away in the early hours of Thursday.

The well-known figure, who had devoted his life to conflict resolution and fostering good relations across the northwest, suffered a stroke in recent years.

Having worked with a number of different community organisations, including The Junction and the Holywell Trust, he was the recipient of an honorary Doctor of Law degree from Ulster University in 2023.

At the time Mr Baker said he was “humbled” to receive the honour, which recognised his services to conflict resolution and the community sector.

Speaking to The Irish News, Holywell Trust director Gerard Deane said Mr Baker will be “deeply missed”.

“Eamon was, I think, the best of characters; fully committed to peace and reconciliation in this place,” he said.

“[He] worked really hard to achieve that – put himself out there, put himself on the line.

Mr Deane added that Mr Baker had “a particular interest in victims and survivors of the conflict”.

“He was instrumental in capturing their stories and honouring their stories,” he said.

“He played a central role in helping to move us on. I think his legacy will be as a pioneer on storytelling connected with the troubles.

“He was a sensitive, great listener who had time for everybody, from all backgrounds.”

His work included the collection of Troubles’ stories, To Tell You the Truth, as well as acting as an editor on a collection honouring the late journalist Lyra McKee.

Mr Deane added that Mr Baker was “well-regarded” and “a vital voice” in the community sector.

“He was also one of the people who would speak out for the sector. His writing on community work and community issues was really important as well.”

Despite officially ‘retiring’ from the board of the Holywell Trust before his health struggles, Mr Deane said he was “never gone completely”.

“A good community worker never gets to retire,” he said.

Eamonn was very supportove of Truth Recovery Process and contributed to our second Issue of Legacy Matters launched at our Conference on ‘Living the Good Friday Agreement’ in Queen’s University, Belast, on April 1st, 2023. We are having another conference there on October 2nd next, on the theme of ‘The Narrow Ground: Is there a path between Protected Disclosure and Conditional Amnesty that can provide for Truth Recovery and Reconciliation through Mediation as an alternative to the existing processes and procedures?’ You can read Eamonn’s article at https://www.truthrecoveryprocess.ie/legacymatters

United front required during this difficult time for Derry

Pro Patria et Fide, Irish News, May 2nd, 2025

IT is extremely unfortunate that, at a time when all efforts in Derry should be directed towards the need to protect crucial jobs at the British Telecom base in the city, attention has instead been focused on a series of completely unacceptable sectarian attacks.

Perhaps the most serious incident came when a 21-year-old autistic man, Conor Muirhead, was beaten unconscious in the Waterside area in the early hours of the morning earlier this week.

The victim, who is also epileptic, was walking with a friend who managed to escape after a group of men jumped out of a car and launched an unprovoked attack on them.

“It is essential that elected representatives and community leaders come together and use their full influence to bring the violence to an end before possibly fatal consequences follow

Mr Muirhead was repeatedly kicked on the head as he lay on the ground, and, after hospital treatment, he is still awaiting the result of scans to determine the extent of the damage he suffered in what police are treating as a sectarian hate crime.

His mother, Tess Curran, believes he was targeted because he is a Catholic, and told Radio Foyle: “Every time I see the injuries to his face, I just feel so angry and I cannot believe this is happening in my own town.”

Several hate driven attacks

There have been several other incidents on both sides of the River Foyle in recent days, including a paint attack on Walker’s Plinth, which is associated with the Apprentice Boys organisation, on the city’s historic walls.

Police are also investigating an episode in which three young men were chased by a large gang allegedly shouting sectarian comments in the Nelson Drive area of the Waterside.

There have been further reports of an arranged fight between rival factions in the Irish Street district, also in the Waterside, in which bottles and fireworks were used, with bricks also thrown at a passing bus, leaving the driver and passengers badly shaken.

It is essential that elected representatives and community leaders come together and use their full influence to bring the violence to an end before possibly fatal consequences follow.

It is equally vital that the same responsible voices on all sides persuade BT to reverse its plans to close its Derry office, with the potential loss of 140 jobs in a region of already high unemployment.

Suggestions that the posts are not being phased out, but instead could be transferred to Belfast, or even India, are particularly alarming for the north west’s economy, and deserve to be urgently reviewed by BT.

This is a testing period for Derry, and a united approach from all sections of society has to be maintained if the heartening progress across the board in the city which has been made since the worst days of the Troubles is not to be seriously undermined.

Fears of fresh algae crisis and homes being left without water for months

Conor Sheils, Irish News, May 2nd, 2025

CAMPAIGNERS have said there is a “real sense of dread” that warm, dry weather could cause the green-blue algae problem at Lough Neagh to worsen – potentially leaving locals without drinking water for months.

Lough Neagh, which supplies 40% of Northern Ireland’s drinking water, has suffered contamination from blue-green algal bloom in recent years as increasing temperatures and fertiliser runoff have provided ideal conditions for it to grow.

Following a warm, dry April, algae has already been spotted and it is believed the problem could get much worse if a warm dry summer lies ahead.

“This year, there’s a real sense of dread, especially in the Lough shore communities. Last year, our tap water was contaminated for several months,” Conor MacNiocaill, of the Save Lough Neagh campaign told The Irish News.

“The blue-green algae appeared earlier this year. With the ongoing warm, dry weather, I can’t imagine it will be any better than other years. We’re only at the start of the season.”

“It’s too early for the thick summer blooms, but it’s clearly starting. It’s not hard to see along the shore.”

Last year, residents in Mid Ulster faced difficulties with drinking water as a result of the bloom.

Speaking about the impact it is having on people’s lives, Mr MacNiocaill described the effects of the algae bloom as “terrifying”.

“We’ve seen photos of baby bottles with blue-green sediment collecting at the bottom. It’s terrifying. What’s going into our bodies? We don’t know the long term effects,” he said.

The Stormont Executive last year launched an action plan to deal with the environmental crisis at the lough. However, Mr MacNiocaill believes the current steps don’t go far enough.

Urgent government response needed

“The government hasn’t responded appropriately to this crisis. We need stronger regulation on pollution entering Lough Neagh – slurry, chemical spills, corporate waste. Slurry is often sprayed outside of the legal season, even on wet days when it can’t be absorbed, and there’s been no serious consequence for this.”

Blue-green algae has impacted Lough Neagh in the previous two summers

His views are echoed by Friends of The Earth NI spokesperson, and fellow campaigner, Declan Allison.

When asked about what could be done to stop the problem, Mr Allison said that there isn’t enough being done.

“The single most likely thing to work, stopping the nutrients getting into the loch in the first place, is the thing that’s going to be most effective, and they’re not the things that are really being suggested,” he told The Irish News.

We’ve seen photos of baby bottles with blue-green sediment collecting at the bottom. It’s terrifying. What’s going into our bodies?

“It’s all about technical solutions, it’s about education, it’s about kind of softer things, and we know that voluntary action from farmers or from NI Water, for example, they’re just not going to work. They haven’t worked in the past, so why would they start to work now?”

“There just isn’t the political will to do that because the priorities lie elsewhere. And then with agriculture, just agriculture is such an enormous political lobby… Their priorities or their policies are given priority rather than protecting the environment.

“The Lough Neagh plan is a good step, but the solutions that could make the most impact aren’t really being implemented.”

Bobby Sands memorial statue is glorifying terrorism says victim's son

Amy Cochrane, Belfast Telegraph, May 2nd, 2025

CAMPAIGNER'S FATHER WAS SHOT BY THE IRA 40 YEARS AGO IN CO DOWN

A memorial for a man shot dead by the IRA 40 years ago will be held on the same day a Bobby Sands statue is unveiled in west Belfast.

Sammy Heenan was only 12 when his father William was murdered on May 3, 1985, outside his Co Down home in Castlewellan.

He said that a service to remember the IRA hunger striker “does a great disservice to our society, post-Troubles” and its only purpose is to “glorify terrorism”.

The service of remembrance for William Heenan is being held on Sunday at 3.30pm at Drumgooland Parish Church in Ballyward.

Victims campaigner Kenny Donaldson is supporting the family in organising the service.

On the same evening, a memorial statue of hunger striker Bobby Sands will be unveiled at the Republican Memorial Garden, Gardenmore Road in Twinbrook. The event is part of a day commemorating Sands, who died on May 5 during the 1981 Maze prison protests, aged 27. He was serving 14 years for his role in planning the 1976 Balmoral Furniture Company bombing in Dunmurry.

The unveiling ceremony will be chaired by West Belfast MLA Danny Baker, who said it will be a “hugely significant occasion” for the community as “we gather to honour and remember Bobby Sands and all those who died on hunger strike during Ireland's struggle for freedom”.

Former republican prisoner and hunger striker, Pat Sheehan MLA, will deliver the keynote speech.

Sammy Heenan said that a memorial event for Bobby Sands “does a great disservice to our society, post-Troubles”.

“Our memorial service on Sunday is to remember my father and to continue to highlight what happened 40 years ago and to remind future generations that seek to glorify the IRA that there was no heroics involved in the murder of my father,” he said.

Pure sectarian thuggery

“There was no valour involved — just pure sectarian thuggery.

“My father was an innocent man who didn't deserve to be forced to his knees and shot twice in the head.

“Nothing about that is to be glorified — this is about giving respect to my father and the type of man he was.

“He never hurt or offended anyone and was not engaged in terrorism.

“In my eyes, Bobby Sands chose to die, my father did not.”

Mr Heenan said the memorial in Twinbrook on Sunday only “retraumatises victims” of paramilitary violence.

“To witness individuals glorifying terrorism in this day and age is repugnant,” he added.

“In 2025 we should be moving forward with a dispensation of tolerance and respect and inclusivity for all people in our society.

“These events only serve to retraumatise victims.

Would not wish what he saw on any child

“The scenes I witnessed as a child were horrific and I would not have wished that hurt or misery on my Catholic neighbour.

“Nothing justifies the taking of innocent life.

“Sinn Fein being involved in events like this only compounds the grief and trauma felt by victims like me and I would challenge the party to make comment on my father's murder and see whether they consider the people who killed him to be revolutionary.

“Michelle O'Neill can't claim to be a First Minister for all and celebrate this squalid campaign of terror which meant innocent people became casualties stuck in the middle.

“Of course, I still crave justice and truth for what happened to my father, but I know I will probably never secure it in my lifetime.”

Mr Heenan said that groups like Kneecap are “indoctrinating” the next generation to “romanticise” parts of the Troubles.

“Kneecap are absolutely vulgar in my eyes,” he said, “they are all that's rotten with society at this time.

“They are running around with a balaclava on and calling themselves DJ Provai, it is so insensitive.

“The IRA brought misery and pain to families through this sort of kangaroo justice.

“It's clear Kneecap are now in damage control mode after what happened.”

The Belfast band are being investigated by counter-terrorism police after videos emerged allegedly showing the band calling for the deaths of MPs.

Irish unity in the absence of reconciliation is doomed

Alex Kane, Irish News, May 2nd, 2025 (in response to fellow columnist Brian Feeney)

ONE thing you and I share, Brian , is our cynicism. So, I think it’s a fairly safe bet we’ll both agree that Fleur Anderson, a Parliamentary under-secretary of state (which sounds like a runaway from a Gilbert and Sullivan opera), was probably flying a kite when, in response to a question about criteria for a border poll, she replied: “It would be based on opinion polls.”

The NIO had a decent stab at pretending to have been caught on the hop: “The responsibility for a referendum sits solely with the secretary of state for Northern Ireland. This is clearly set out in the NI Act 1998, which gives effect to the GFA and the principle of consent. This has been – and remains – the only condition. The SoS has been clear that there is no evidence that this condition has been met.”

But not dismissing opinion polls. Let’s face it, Brian, the world and his wife know that opinion polls will play a part. That’s why they already attract so much attention from both sides in the border poll debate.

Election results will matter too, especially as, right now, unionism doesn’t have an overall majority in the assembly, doesn’t have the largest party, and returns eight of the 18 MPs from NI.

Every statistic, poll, survey, census or measurement is going to play a part in the calling of a border poll. That much has been clear since April 1998.

What is not so clear, though, is why a British government has been, up to this point, so reluctant to even hint at the criteria required.

That said – and I know you’re irked by this, Brian – I think the Irish government has been happy not to have the criteria set in stone.

For all the talk about ‘unity in my lifetime’ from leading Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael politicians and Leo Varadkar’s this-is-the-moment hoopla in Philadelphia a couple of weeks ago, it seemed to me – and many other unionists, for that matter – that the Irish political/electoral establishment was content to let the issue run and run.

There are all sorts of reasons for that, although you, Brian, would settle, I think, for the most brutal assessment of all: that it is simply failing to prioritise the ultimate constitutional goal of uniting Ireland as quickly as possible.

A poll is inevitable, but shouldn’t be rushed.

Personally, and you will know this, I think a border poll is inevitable. But I also believe that rushing it, by setting out fairly woolly and constructively ambiguous criteria would, in the long run, do far more damage than good.

Which is why I have sympathy for, as well as concerns about, Micheál Martin’s ‘proper reconciliation first’ approach.

Yes, Brian, I know you’ll be crumpling the page and roaring a few swear words as you read that – I’ve known you a long time, after all – but I also know that unity in the absence of a serious process of reconciliation is doomed.

One of the reasons partition failed to win over Irish nationalists who found themselves on the ‘wrong side’ of the border was that nothing had been done to prepare them for the ‘new’ constitutional status quo.

Why would anyone think the same problems wouldn’t arise if unionists found themselves in a similar situation?

And before you think I’m in favour of some sort of unionist veto – no reconciliation means no border poll – I’m not.

As I’ve said, I think a poll is inevitable. But I don’t think a united Ireland outcome is also inevitable.

Indeed, at this point, and it’s a point which could last for quite some time, all bets are off.

Which is why I think the real debate is not the for or against unity one; it’s what happens in terms of the losing side one.

Because there will be a losing side: and that losing side will have a lot to deal with, not least if Northern Ireland ceases to exist as a constitutional entity and a ‘new’ Ireland becomes a reality for unionism.

I also have a suspicion, Brian, that the ‘proper reconciliation first’ route would be regarded by Ireland’s Future, Sinn Féin and other elements of the unity lobby as a tactic to delay and keep on delaying unity.

And again, I do have some sympathy for that criticism. But irrespective of the outcome of an eventual poll, I want both sides fully prepared for the consequences and challenges that will lie ahead.

Anyway, and back to where I started, I do believe that we are reaching the point at which the border poll criteria will be outlined – even if the Irish government isn’t all that keen.

Which means the debate, if not the date, will hot up; including deciding what the most important criteria are.