Member's statement: Legacy
Member's statement by Mr Jon Burrows on .
- MLA
- Mr Jon Burrows
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 22 September 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Legacy
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5123336
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I want to address, in very introductory terms, the legacy agreement reached between the United Kingdom Government and the Government of the Republic of Ireland. So many people were murdered and maimed in our Troubles, and so many more, perhaps too many to quantify, have been affected by mental ill health and other suffering. We owe it to those victims to give any consideration serious and solemn reflection. That is what we in the Ulster Unionist Party will do, but we will have some guiding principles. First, we will be informed mostly by the victims. Too often in our peace process, the needs of perpetrators have come first and those of victims have come second. Blind eyes were turned to violence for the greater good, if you define the "greater good" as ignoring violence. Blind eyes were turned to punishment shootings so that they did not upset the apple cart of negotiations. That cannot continue, so we will be guided by victims' needs and not by the needs of perpetrators. Secondly, we will make sure that there is fair treatment for the vast majority of servicemen and police officers who put on a uniform and went out to serve our country with courage and distinction.
Before any proposals have our support, we will ensure that they recognise fairness for our veterans and police officers. Thirdly, we will ensure that history cannot be rewritten. It is the strategic intent of some people, including some in this place, to rewrite history. We will make sure that that does not happen. Fourthly, we will uphold the rule of law and justice in our country. With those four principles, I will address just one aspect of the legacy agreement, and that is the belated commitment of the Government of the Irish Republic to investigate Troubles-related crimes. Why has it taken until 2025 for them to make a commitment to investigate such crimes? How many people have died who were victims? How many suspects have died who were never brought to justice? How much evidence has been lost? We will be asking serious questions about the Irish Government and the reported amnesty that was given to republican violence. Michael McDowell confirmed in 'The Irish Times' that he was asked to give that amnesty by leaders of Sinn Féin, and he gave it. We are very concerned that that amnesty may scupper any attempts to bring people to justice. In relation to the legacy unit in an Garda Síochána, we will make sure that, if it goes ahead, there will be legal requirements for it to give unredacted intelligence to the UK bodies and that there will be independence in that unit too. The call is for independence in the investigatory bodies in Northern Ireland: we want to see independence in any Garda Síochána unit, with someone from Northern Ireland making sure that it is disclosing and cooperating and that the Irish Government are no longer trying —
— to keep things secret.
497 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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