Debate contribution: Legacy Cases: Irish Government

Debate contribution by Mr Jonathan Buckley on 19 May 2026.

MLA

Mr Jonathan Buckley

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

19 May 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Legacy Cases: Irish Government

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5550381

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Deputy Speaker. The DUP motion before us today confronts a shameful truth that victims have often carried for too long by themselves. It is a truth that the Irish Government have refused to face, acknowledge and act on. We in the Chamber should be in no doubt: the blame for thousands of lives destroyed during the Troubles rests squarely with the terrorists — those who planted bombs, pulled triggers and left families shattered. They are celebrated and applauded to this day by many Members on the Benches opposite. Today, however, our focus is on something different: the Irish Government's decades-long refusal to confront their failures, responsibilities and role in the suffering of innocent people in Northern Ireland. Victims have been ignored, and trauma has been prolonged. Sinn Féin could paper the walls of the Chamber with its many comments about targeting the British state and the security forces and celebrating cowardly terrorist colleagues. However, it has not proposed a single motion calling for action from the Republic of Ireland's Government.

I suppose that we should not be shocked by that, given its history. Gerry Kelly MLA sits in the Chamber right now. How many nights did he spend on the run in the Republic of Ireland? He is perhaps the only Member of this elected body who actively participated in shooting a member of the Prison Service in the head, yet we are subjected to lectures that we all have got this badly wrong. For decades, victims have wanted the truth. They have waited for justice, and they have waited for even the smallest sign of compassion from Dublin. Instead, they have been met with silence, with obstruction and with a cold, calculated refusal to cooperate. That is not an administrative delay; it is a political decision, one that deepens and prolongs wounds and trauma. There are many reasons why that is a scandalous position. Eóin Tennyson of the Alliance Party has rubbished the motion. He has rubbished this aspect of legacy and walked over the rights and the experiences of the many victims who are still calling for the truth. Let me remind him why it is important to debate this today. A word was spoken that had not been spoken until the previous Member who spoke said it. Let us remember Omagh, the single worst atrocity of the Troubles, with a bomb planned and constructed in and transported from the Republic of Ireland. Four years ago, the courts called for a public inquiry into the Irish state's role. Four years, and Dublin has done absolutely nothing. No inquiry, no transparency and no willingness to open the books. Victims' families are left to wonder what is being hidden. Why the silence? Let us remember Kingsmills, where 10 innocent workmen were lined up and executed in cold blood. Why? Because of their religion. Irish intelligence had given information about IRA activity in the area. It had knowledge of explosives being manufactured in its jurisdiction, yet nothing was done to prevent their slaughter. The families of Kingsmills — I count Alan Black a personal friend — have waited nearly 50 years for answers. Dublin has offered nothing. We must also speak of the two brave RUC officers, Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Bob Buchanan, who were lured to their death in the Irish Republic. The Smithwick tribunal, after years of evidence, concluded that there was collusion; that sensitive information was passed to the Provisional IRA; and that those officers were set up. Smithwick should have been the start of a full reckoning. Instead, what did we find? Dublin treated it as an inconvenience to be buried. Recommendation 7, which called for further investigation, was ignored. The families of Breen and Buchanan have been left with unanswered questions and unhealed wounds. Throughout the Troubles, terrorists crossed the border after committing murder —.

I will in a moment if I have time. Throughout the Troubles, terrorists crossed the border after committing murder and found refuge. Bomb factories operated in the Republic, explosives were transported north and warnings were ignored. It has been mentioned on several occasions that recent information shows that a company in the Republic, Irish Industrial Explosives Ltd in County Meath, was an explosives bonanza for republican terrorists. Despite repeated warnings from the British state about the level of explosives that were being found on traces of bombs across our country, what did the Irish Government do? They sent their Ministers to laud and to promote that very company, yet there was further silence. The Irish state was not a passive observer; it had responsibilities that it failed to meet.

In a display of staggering hypocrisy, however, the Irish Government have taken the UK Government to court over legacy matters. That could not be further from the truth. They have kept their interstate case alive. They have applied political pressure on the Secretary of State. They have demanded changes to UK legislation that go way beyond those required by even the Supreme Court, all whilst refusing to meet their own obligations, refusing to hand over documents, refusing to cooperate with the ICRIR and refusing to investigate their own failures. That is not moral leadership. It is political theatre at the expense of victims.

I will come on to that point. If the Member recognises the truth in the motion, however, I urge Alliance to support it. Much has been said about the UK's article 2 obligations, but almost nothing has been said about the Irish Government's obligations under the same provision. European case law is clear: if a state harbours an alleged perpetrator or holds relevant evidence, it must investigate. If a victim was under the authority or control of another state, it must investigate. By any reasonable measure, Dublin has been in breach of its article 2 obligations for decades. Between 1973 and 1997, the UK made 113 extradition requests to the Republic for terrorist offences. Only eight were granted. For non-terrorist offences, 296 requests were made, of which 124 were granted. When it came to terrorists, the door was bolted. When it came to ordinary criminals, the door swung open. What message did that send to the families of victims such as Buchanan and Breen? What message did it give to the Provisional IRA? To continue to operate with impunity? Let us be honest: the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill has lost the confidence of victims, survivors and veterans. It has lost the confidence of this community, and it has lost the confidence of this House. I say to the UK Government that it should be withdrawn: not amended but withdrawn. I say this to the UK Government: grow a backbone, get off your knees and stand up for your citizens. There should be no preconditions for the Irish Government doing what is morally and legally required. There should be no preconditions for handing over documents, cooperating, investigating collusion or opening the books on Omagh, Kingsmills and multiple other murders. Victims deserve truth.

It is time that the Irish Government delivered.

1,174 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Uncertain: weak signal Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:46 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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