Gregory Campbell says ‘legacy bill’ will end up in High Court and truth recovery mechanism will ‘end up nowhere’

The East Derry DUP made the remarks as prior to the final seal of approval being given to the the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill, which will introduce a statute of limitations for all Troubles-related killings.

Mr. Campbell said that the new legislation when it receives assent from Britain’s Charles III will end up in the courts.

He also said he believed the proposed Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) will ‘end up nowhere.’

“The Secretary of State is outlining the difficulty surrounding this entire process. Given the convoluted, protracted nature of this for such a long time and given what inevitably will happen when this passes as it will, it will end up in the High Court.

"Does he understand that this will be an entirely convoluted, academic process that will end up nowhere?” asked the East Derry MP.

Secretary of State for the North Chris Heaton-Harris replied: “I am afraid that I do not.

“I was saying that a number of valiant attempts have been made to address this issue since the Belfast/Good Friday agreement. As I have reminded the House in the past, in one debate that I attended with some of the women who were behind the Good Friday agreement, one was asked what was her biggest regret about the time. The regret was that nothing was done for victims.”

Mr. Heaton-Harris added: “It is incumbent on us to ensure that any process for dealing with the past focuses on measures that can deliver positive outcomes for as many of those directly affected by the troubles as possible.

"That comes – it really does – with finely balanced political and moral choices, including a conditional immunity process, which I acknowledge is difficult for very many, but we must be honest about what we can realistically deliver for people in circumstances where the prospects of achieving justice in the traditional sense are so vanishingly small.”

US Congressman Bill Keating brands ‘legacy bill’ as 'shameful' and ‘direct threat’ to stable peace of GFA