Committee seeks withdrawal of Troubles Bill

The Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement has called on the British government to withdraw the controversial Bill concerning the legacy of the conflict.

The Bill pursued by the Bristish Government has met with resistance from all political parties in the North. It would end inquests, Police Ombudsman investigations, civil cases and police investigations into crimes committed as part of the Troubles.

The committee, chaired by Deputy Fergus O'Dowd, has sought to communicate its grave concerns at this proposal throughout the legislative process.

Cavan-Monaghan TD Brendan Smith is its former Chair, and in the past he has described as “unacceptable” that the British Government has not responded to the Irish parliament's “legitimate and unanimous” requests for an independent legal expert to be given access to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings files.