The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic said the proposals raised serious issu
David Young, PA
09 December, 2022 14:10
An international human rights commissioner has urged the British government to consider withdrawing contentious legislation dealing with the legacy of the Troubles.
The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic said the proposals raised serious issues over compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The convention enshrines the right for effective state investigations into deaths.
The Council’s Committee of Ministers has also voiced concern about the Legacy Bill, which offers conditional immunity from prosecution for perpetrators of Troubles crimes who agree to provide information to a new truth recovery body, and a move to end conflict-related civil cases and inquests.
The Bill is currently proceeding through its parliamentary stages at Westminster.
While the British government has made some amendments to the legislation, it has not dropped its most controversial aspects around immunity and halting civil and coronial cases.
The Council of Europe is an international body that oversees and monitors compliance with the ECHR. The UK is one of its 46 members and a signatory to the convention.
Commissioner Mijatovic said the UK government should consider withdrawing the Legacy Bill in view of the “widespread opposition” in Northern Ireland and its potential to contravene the convention.
“Any further steps on legacy must place the rights and needs of victims at its heart,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Council’s Committee of Ministers expressed “growing concern” that the Bill has not been formally paused or amended to “sufficiently allay the concerns” that the legislation will be in full compliance with the convention and will enable effective investigations.
Grainne Teggart, deputy director for Northern Ireland at Amnesty International UK, welcomed the stance adopted by the human rights body.
“Once again, the UK government finds itself isolated on the international stage,” she said.
“These are welcome and important calls which the UK government must not ignore. Victims’ rights must be prioritised and the bill scrapped.
“This intervention adds to the cutting critique and overwhelming opposition facing the Troubles bill.
“The UK government’s determination to deprive victims and families of the justice they deserve while shielding the perpetrators who are responsible for murder, torture and other serious crimes makes a mockery of the rule of law and any claims by UK government that they respect human rights.
“Recent changes proposed by government are little more than a thinly veiled attempt to make the bill appear more just.
“We and victims are not buying it. The bill cannot be fixed, the right thing for government to do is scrap it.”
Nine people from Belfast shared their painful experiences and reached a consensus during a remarkable project — but their solution took decades to take hold, laments a Belfast-born psychotherapist
The aftermath of an explosion in Belfast on Bloody Friday in July 1972
It’s been 50 years since a group of working class people from Belfast were flown to America at the height of the Troubles to take part in the ground-breaking documentary ‘Steel Shutter’.
A conference is taking place in the Europa Hotel on Thursday to revisit the extraordinary peace initiative which allowed nine men and women from both communities a chance to sit down and talk for the first time since the conflict began.
Dr Michael Montgomery, who founded the organisation Peace Fire, which is behind the event, admits it is uncomfortable viewing to see what was achieved in the painful exchanges.
“It’s horrific when you watch it back and realise the consensus they reached,” he said.
“There was the genesis of a solution by the end of the interaction. But it took decades to manifest.”
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Dr Michael Montgomery, psychotherapist and founder of the organisation Peace Fire
The 1972 film, recorded over three days in Philadelphia, captured participants, including the late Shelter NI founder Barney Filor,as they came to the realisation that they were more alike than they thought.
Tom Donnelly was among those who shared their own harrowing experiences of the early conflict and was visibly upset as he described the pain of losing his sister Margaret O’Hare.
The 34-year-old was one of three people killed in an IRA bomb close to shops on Cavehill Road in Belfast on July 21, 1972.
“Is my mum dead, is my mum dead?” Mr Donnelly recalled being asked by his niece. He had to stall the entire day until he could make contact with her dad who was away on business.
Tom Donnelly in the documentary
Mr Donnelly also opened up about the pain of ignoring questions from his four-year-old son, who noted that “you never take me over to aunt Margaret’s any more” in the dark days that followed.
“When she came into a room it was like turning on a light,” he told other group members.
“That light was snuffed out.”
Meanwhile, Mr Filor recalled being evacuated from the Albert Bridge on the same day and seeing Catholics across the river “cheer” after the first of 22 bombs detonated across the city.
“They were lined up waiting for it,” he said.
Barney Filor in the documentary
Dr Montgomery said it is still powerful to watch the men and women from different walks of life begin to let their guard down.
“Brian talks about seeing two policemen being killed and no one acknowledges what he is saying,” he said.
“Tom talks about his sister being killed.
“Collectively they explain why they needed to pull the steel shutter down in order to survive conflict.
“And then the film moves on towards the end when they reach agreement.” The film records key moments when all nine participants realise that housing problems and inequality blight poor Protestant communities as much as Catholic areas. It captures bonds being forged over the shared tragedy of a generation of young adults being forced to flee their home country to escape the carnage. But most of all, it shows that raw honesty about feelings of fear, plain terror, vengeance, hopelessness and despair has the ability to bring people together.
The film also captures a prophetic warning that the senseless bloodshed would continue as long as political wings of terror gangs were ostracised from public life.
Protestant father Brian can be seen expressing concerns about his eight-year-old son “playing violent games” and growing up to join a loyalist paramilitary group.
Meanwhile, Catholic mother Peggy shared identical fears that her children would be enticed “to get their own back” one day. “That bitterness is just going to keep ebbing away at those kids and eventually they could become IRA men,” she said.
The seeds of a solution were sown by a man called Sean, who claimed the actions of the British Army in Northern Ireland “make Vietnam look like a kindergarten”.
He passionately railed against a colonel’s call — made in a national newspaper at the time — for the IRA to surrender.
“They haven’t a snowball’s chance in hell of us giving up our gunmen,” he warned. “Unless they stop harassing Catholics.”
Dr Montgomery, originally from Belfast but who now lives near Boston, described the last sentence as chilling with the benefit of hindsight.
“We’ll give up our gunmen if you stop harassing Catholics,” he said.
“That was the solution, but they had to make a connection to find it.
“You see gunmen don’t have a personal connection with the people they murder – they just pulled the trigger and that was it.”
The psychotherapist also warned that everyone becomes bound and blinded when they pursue tribalism for a sense of identity which ultimately results in polarisation.
“If you think morally ‘this is my tribe’ then that’s a very bonding experience and until people are lifted out of that it’s difficult,” he said.
“That’s what was so interesting about Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness.
“There was so much humanity in that relationship and there’s a real lack of that generosity in peace-building and politics today.” Dr Montgomery believes social media is a toxic force in the modern world and often distorts what could otherwise be a meaningful connection in real life.
He is convinced the antidote lies in the concepts of renowned psychologist Carl Rogers who was central to the five decades-old film, which also involved Oscar winner Bill McGaw.
“History repeats itself because people don’t realise how bad it was in the past,” he warned.
“People can romanticise these things because they are not connected with the consequences and what it was really like.
“But the people taking part in this project realised they had their guards up because it’s what they needed to do to stop going insane.
“Once they acted on commonality, their defences came down a little bit.”
The conference will reflect on what was achieved 50 years ago and explore weighty themes including forgiveness, ethics and the “very messy” work of reconciliation.
The aim is to engage with a range of stakeholders of all ages who have a particular interest in peace-building, education, conflict resolution, trauma, psychotherapy/counselling, and legacy studies. Delegates will have the chance to reflect on the themes that ran through the film and listen to expert speakers trying to make sense of the past and take stock of the present.
The film also exposed a sense of resentment over working people’s reliance on middle class politicians.
There was a shared perception that they were “divorced from reality of the Troubles” and a sense of frustration over the fear people had of speaking out.
“The middle class are the people who originated this trouble, but the working class suffer,” one man said.
Dr Montgomery believes more authentic conversations are needed in politics today to refresh a peace process that has gone stale. “I think there’s been a loss of creativity, risk taking and connectivity,” he said.
“I work with prisoners and people who have done horrendous things — this approach works. The rise of cognitive psychology means people are thinking their feelings and not experiencing the emotional depth of their pain and trauma.
“I believe if you got ex-IRA men and ex-UDA men in the same room they would have real empathy for one another because they know exactly what each other went through.
“They all know what life is like behind the steel shutter.”
Pedestrians on Dublin’s Ha’penny Bridge as seen in the 1940 travelogue “Dublin, Capital City of Ireland.” IRISH FILM INSTITUTE
“Dublin, Capital City of Ireland,” a ten-minute Irish travelogue from 1940, is now available to stream for free on the Irish Film Institute’s IFI Archive Player.
This silent tourism film made for the Irish Tourist Association (the precursor of Bord Fáilte and Fáilte Ireland) provides a warmly-hued panorama of 1940s Dublin.
Dublin is presented as a city of romance and contrasts which has survived countless changes through a thousand years of history.
On this particular day, Croke Park was packed to capacity as Limerick took on Kilkenny in the 1940 All Ireland Hurling Final.
Going into the city centre, Dublin trams can be seen passing through a busy O’Connell Street, past Nelson’s Pillar (now home to The Spire) towards Bank of Ireland on College Green.
The infamous Moore Street Market is a hive of activity, full of busy shoppers looking for a bargain, in complete contrast to the tranquil gardens of Stephen’s Green, where people are sprawled out on sun loungers making the most of a blissfully sunny day.
As the film proudly states, “to the visitor, it is a city of pleasure offering every amenity for enjoyment and happiness.”
The Irish Film Institute’s Bord Fáilte Film Collection
Some of the largest collections held by the IFI Irish Film Archive come from Government departments and State and semi-state bodies. Apart from their educational and entertainment value in a country that did not have its own television station until 1961, these state-sponsored produced films are noteworthy not only for their high production values and interesting content, but also for the calibre of those involved in their creation.
Luminaries of the Irish acting world would often make appearances, and at a time when the Irish film industry was underdeveloped and opportunities for technical training were limited, important figures such as Louis Marcus, Bob Monks, Colm Ó Laoghaire, George Fleischmann, Gerard Healy, and Rex Roberts all found gainful employment in their production.
Films made for Bord Fáilte provide not only a beautiful record of Ireland’s landscape and topography throughout the 20th century, but also serve to illustrate the development of the Irish tourist industry and the image that ‘brand’ Ireland was endeavouring to project, as it marketed itself as an international tourist destination.
“Dublin, Capital City of Ireland” is published here with kind permission of Fáilte Ireland and thanks to the Irish Film Institute (IFI), who IrishCentral has partnered up with throughout 2022 to bring you a taste of what their remarkable collection entails. You can find all IrishCentral articles and videos from the IFI here.
To watch more historic Irish footage, visit the IFI Archive Player, the Irish Film Institute’s virtual viewing room that provides audiences around the globe free, instant access to Irish heritage preserved in the IFI Irish Film Archive. Irish Culture from the last century is reflected through documentaries, animation, adverts, amateur footage, feature films, and much more. You can also download the IFI Archive Player App for free on iPhone, Android, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku.
IrishCentral has partnered up with the IFI throughout 2022 to bring you a taste of what their remarkable collections entail. You can find all IrishCentral articles and videos from the IFI here.
Ever since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement there has been talk about reform of the Stormont institutions. As the accord prepares to mark its 25th anniversary next April, Political Correspondent John Manley looks at where each of the parties stands – as laid out in platforms carried by The Irish News over the past week
Power is shared by the Stormont executive’s participants in a forced marriage
John Manley
27 November, 2022 21:00
Political correspondent John Manley
IT’S a truth universally acknowledged that the north’s power-sharing institutions could function better.
The ability of the largest party in either the unionist or nationalist designation to collapse the executive or veto its establishment by refusing to nominate a first minister is often cited as the key flaw in the current arrangements.
The mandatory coalition model was set up in 1998 in a way that ensured the majority rule that had characterised the first 50 years of Northern Ireland’s existence was not repeated.
The option of opposition has been available since 2016 but for those in government, power is shared in a kind of forced marriage.
Circumstances have changed over the quarter of a century since the accord was signed, with the pace of transformation seemingly accelerating in recent years.
Unionism lost its majority in 2017, Sinn Féin became the assembly’s largest party in last May’s election, and Alliance has strengthened the so-called middle ground.
There is now no majority bloc, yet under current arrangements, a party that received little more than half of unionism’s popular vote in the assembly election can veto devolution.
There are those who agitate for change and a move towards voluntary coalition, which would enable a ‘government of the willing’ rather than the present necessity to include the largest party in the two main designations.
Last week, The Irish News asked each of the parties how they would make devolved government more stable.
Deputy first minister designate Michelle O’Neill said “people across Ireland [are] demanding real change”. Notably, however, that change does not extend to altering the workings of the institutions, for the meantime at least.
“I believe reform at this stage equates to shifting the goalposts agreed by the people in referenda north and south, and no fundamental change should occur without their consent,” the Sinn Féin deputy leader said.
Ms O’Neill believes Stormont’s Assembly and Executive Review Committee is the “established and appropriate forum” for any discussion about changes, perhaps a pre-emptive response to any notion the two governments may have about initiating reform.
“To discard the Good Friday Agreement safeguards and protections or governance arrangements would be a mistake,” she said.
“Carefully and painstakingly negotiated, they represent a political accommodation, and while nothing is ever permanent, now isn’t the time to assist the Tories or DUP in unravelling it.”
With Sinn Féin’s acquiescence, the DUP was previously successful in changing the agreement’s power-sharing template at St Andrews.
Under the new rules agreed in 2006, the first and deputy ministers would be automatically chosen from the ranks of the largest party in each designation. In the time since, both parties have consolidated their respective positions as each designation’s largest.
The DUP has yet to furnish this newspaper with a platform outlining how it would make devolved government more stable so it’s been necessary to consult the party’s manifesto from May’s election.
Beyond a resolution of its concerns around the protocol, the DUP said it wants to see politics and government at Stormont “normalised”.
“We have had a long-term objective of seeing government established by those who can agree to govern together,” its manifesto states.
“We remain convinced that a voluntary coalition represents the best long-term option for government in Northern Ireland.
“We believe this should be on the basis of a concise agreed coalition plan that can subsequently be augmented by a more comprehensive Programme for Government and supported by a weighted majority in the assembly.”
According to Alliance leader Naomi Long, reform is the only way way to break what she terms the “cycle of crisis and collapse”.
“The agreement was a historic milestone but the ‘ugly scaffolding’ of its binary system has unintentionally handed the two largest parties the ability to collapse the institutions and hold the people of Northern Ireland to ransom at will,” she said.
Alliance advocates amending the process for nominating first and deputy first ministers so that if a party refuses to nominate, the entitlement passes to the next largest party.
“This would enable those who wish to form an executive to deliver government – any party entitled to an office or ministry would retain that right – it is for them to decide whether to opt out, so no-one is excluded unless they choose to be,” the East Belfast MLA said.
Mrs Long’s party also supports replacing the assembly’s current parallel consent in cross-community votes with a weighted majority.
“This would ensure the support of unionists, nationalists and, crucially, others, whose votes are currently ignored, without giving anyone a veto,” she says.
The SDLP’s Matthew O’Toole said he acknowledges the agreement and associated institutions’ role in embedding peace, yet believes “no-one could credibly argue that they are operating properly – when they operate at all”.
“The question is how to reform them without jeopardising the fundamental principles of power sharing and mutual respect,” he said.
He characterised the rule change at St Andrews in 2006 as “tragic” and “designed to promote tribal vetoes and victories”.
The party advocates that the first and deputy first minister’s titles are ‘equalisesd’.
“They [Sinn Féin and the DUP] have both profited from prioritising victory and veto in a system designed for partnership,” he said.
Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie is likewise lauds the agreement’s achievements but too laments the 2006 amendment – “vandalism” that has been “facilitated by both the Irish and UK governments”.
Like the SDLP, the party that too has seen its star continue to fall since 1998 wants a return to the agreement’s “factory settings” and “the principles on which power-sharing was established”.
“Returning to the first minister coming from the largest designation, with joint election of first and deputy first ministers, would remove the charade we see every election time,” said Mr Beattie.
Arguably the most strident and consistent critics of mandatory coalition is TUV leader Jim Allister.
He says those who “meekly accepted three years of Sinn Féin boycott” have only recently become interested in reform.
“None of the parties have to agree about anything before going into government together – hence, the inevitable crises and collapse,” he said.
He argues that with no party big enough to govern on its own, coalition is inevitable.
“As elsewhere, for it to work, it must be a coalition of the willing,” he said.
The TUV leader also advocates a weighted majority vote to approve the new government and its programme and budget.
Meanwhile, People Before Profit’s Gerry Carroll would welcome reform of the institutions to allow for a voluntary coalition but said it “would only be a stopgap measure” and would “not cure the sectarian rot at the heart of the northern state”.
“After 25 years of failure, illusions in the ability of Stormont to truly deliver are quickly waning,” he said.
“It’s like Christmas for Americans”, was how one Irish person described Thanksgiving. A time when families and friends come together.
As you know Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Ireland. A holiday rooted in British colonialism was never going to take hold in Ireland.
But I think the idea of giving thanks should be part of all societies; an acknowledgment that good times and hard times are transient. We experience both throughout our lives. A celebration of our common humanity and experience.
An occasion to be grateful for what we have and remember those suffering.
So here is my short list of things to be thankful for:
Family; immediate and extended, biological and non-biological. The people that make the place called home. A warm, secure, and welcoming home free from pretense and full of acceptance.
Friends; the people who you might not see for a year but can pick up a conversation where it was left off. The ones that can fill an hour with joy and laughter or be comfortable in your quiet company. Free with support and advice and always with your best interests at heart
Comrades; being part of something bigger than oneself. A community that is bound together by a common aim and a shared struggle. Creating a space for debate, decision-making, and common action. Always there with support in the hard times with a mixture of good humour and solidarity.
Opportunity. The backdrop to my first thirty years was the conflict in Belfast. At times it moved center stage with devastating effect. We now have an opportunity to resolve differences and build a new and united Ireland through peaceful and democratic means. We must always be thankful to those that made that possible and mindful to safeguard the progress that we now enjoy.
We face many challenges in the months and years ahead to realize the opportunities which we have been gifted. But this weekend let’s be grateful for what we have. To my family, friends, and comrades that have welcomed me throughout the US and Canada, I thank you.
Have a great weekend.
Is mise,
Ciarán
Ciarán Quinn is the Sinn Féin Representative to North America
