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Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee (Brian Lawless\/PA)<\/p>\nThe Government\u2019s legacy legislation will be \u201cdependent\u201d on the UK Government passing its own laws, the Northern Ireland Secretary has been told.<\/p>\n
Legacy issues were among the main topics discussed during the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference (BIIGC) at Hillsborough Castle on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Northern Ireland’s Secretary Hilary Benn, Parliamentary under-secretary of state Matthew Patrick, as well as Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee and Minister for Justice Jim O\u2019Callaghan attended.<\/p>\n
At a press conference at the conclusion of the conference, the Dublin side expressed disappointment that the UK Bill to repeal and replace the controversial Legacy Act introduced by the previous Conservative government had not yet made it to committee stage.<\/p>\n
That legislation is very much dependent upon the UK legislation being enacted<\/p>\n
Jim O’Callaghan<\/p>\n
O\u2019Callaghan said it would have to be passed before the Government brought in a complementary Act, as he expressed hope the UK legislative process could be \u201cexpedited\u201d.<\/p>\n
He told reporters: \u201cLate May or early June, I will be going before Government seeking approval for the drafting of a general Legacy Bill that will be able to deal and engage with the legacy commission that is going to be put in place in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope to see that legislation enacted properly thereafter.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, I did indicate to Hilary and Matt that but that legislation is very much dependent upon the UK legislation being enacted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among other measures, the Labour Government\u2019s Bill will put in place a reformed Legacy Commission with enhanced powers.<\/p>\n
Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee (Brian Lawless\/PA)<\/p>\n
MPs have backed a remedial order which removed the measures in the previous Act providing conditional immunity from prosecutions for Troubles-era crimes, as well as scrapping a bar on future legacy compensation cases.<\/p>\n
The immunity provision had been found to be unlawful in the courts.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Callaghan said drafting the Irish legislation, which would enable the provision of evidence to the reformed legacy commission, could take three to four months.<\/p>\n
McEntee said she was \u201cdisappointed\u201d that the UK Bill had not moved to the committee stage in the latest parliamentary session, but said Benn had given \u201ca clear commitment\u201d to progress the legislation.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Callaghan also said he was \u201cvery encouraged\u201d to hear that committee stage amendments to the legacy legislation will be published in June.<\/p>\n
He said he had also received commitments from the Northern Ireland Secretary that the legislation will be compliant with article two of the European Convention on Human Rights.<\/p>\n
Armed forces and veterans communities have raised concerns over the legislation, with the Conservatives arguing it will reopen \u201cvexatious litigation\u201d.<\/p>\n
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Justice Minister Jim O\u2019Callaghan (Niall Carson\/PA)<\/p>\n
Benn said the UK Government had a duty and responsibility to make sure that \u201cthose who served the State to keep the people of Northern Ireland safe are properly treated during the legacy process\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said the Bill already contained protections for veterans \u2013 such as the right to give evidence remotely, to apply to do so anonymously, to have their age and welfare taken into account, and to ensure there is no cold calling \u2013 but said there would be further amendments when the Bill returns to the House of Commons early in the new session.<\/p>\n
He said the further element of the protections that is under consideration is to make clear there is not any equivalence between the security forces and terrorists.<\/p>\n
\u201cNone of those affects in any way the commitments that we gave when we met in this very spot in September to launch the framework agreement between the British and the Irish government.\u201d<\/p>\n
Benn said dealing with legacy was the \u201cunfinished business of the Good Friday Agreement\u201d, adding that it was the \u201clast chance\u201d to \u201cget this done\u201d.<\/p>\n
The meeting was held while a ruling was being given in the last of the coronial investigations into Troubles-related deaths completed before the May 1st deadline of the existing Legacy Act.<\/p>\n
A coroner ruled that British Army soldiers did not use reasonable force in the shooting of a Catholic priest, a father-of-six and three teenagers in two areas of west Belfast on July 9th, 1972.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, O\u2019Callaghan said he expects the Government\u2019s Omagh Bombing Inquiry Bill to be enacted into law by the end of next month, as it cleared the D\u00e1il and moved to the Seanad.<\/p>\n
The International Co-operation (Omagh Bombing Inquiry) Bill 2026 would allow for current or former garda\u00ed members, members of the Defence Forces, the Civil Service or the Government to engage with the inquiry examining the 1998 atrocity in the Co Tyrone town.<\/p>\n
The Justice Minister added that the Government has provided more than 26,000 pages of information to the inquiry through a memorandum of understanding.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is a real example of co-operation by the Irish Government with inquiries operating in Northern Ireland in respect of legacy issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Relatives](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777575669_399_government-hoping-uk-legacy-bill-can-be-expedited.jpg\")
Natasha Butler (centre) with relatives of those killed during the Springhill Westrock killings outside Belfast Coroner\u2019s Court (Liam McBurney\/PA)<\/p>\n
In a joint communique, the governments said they had also discussed \u201cindividual legacy cases\u201d and the review of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation & Information Recovery.<\/p>\n
They also said they were looking forward to the finalisation of a report into whether there is merit in and support for a formal process of engagement to bring about paramilitary group transition to disbandment, which is expected by August.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, ministers from both governments condemned the attack on Dunmurry police station at the weekend as well as the attempted attack outside Lurgan police station in March.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, the governments made a commitment that any future digital ID solutions will be developed \u201cin partnership\u201d and in a way that ensures the rights of citizens under the Common Travel Area and Good Friday Agreement.<\/p>\n
On British-Irish co-operation, the governments welcomed \u201cpositive discussions\u201d on enhancing energy security through offshore wind development and a North-South electricity interconnector.<\/p>\n
There was also discussion on a bilateral approach to \u201chybrid cross-border working\u201d and consideration of updating aspects of the UK-Ireland Double Taxation Convention.<\/p>\n
The governments agreed that the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference would meet again later in 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Government\u2019s legacy legislation will be \u201cdependent\u201d on the UK Government passing its own laws, the Northern Ireland…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425663,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-425662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}