Hilary Benn ‘does not understand the point’ of abolishing NI legacy body

Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn has said he does not “understand the point” in abolishing a new Troubles investigative commission.

Mr Benn said getting rid of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) would mean further delay for families seeking answers over Troubles deaths as well as wasting money.

The ICRIR was set up in May under the Legacy Act.

Many families who lost loved ones during the conflict claim the commission lacks the teeth and independence to properly re-examine their cases.

Last week the Court of Appeal in part allowed an appeal by several Troubles victims against the ICRIR.

The court found that a Government veto power over what sensitive material can be disclosed to bereaved families by the commission is unlawful.

The court also ruled that the ICRIR does not provide victims and their next of kin adequate means to participate in its processes.

The ruling has led to renewed calls from some families for the commission, headed by former Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan, to be scrapped.

Labour has pledged to repeal the Act introduced by the previous government, but has said it will retain the ICRIR.

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Benn was asked if he would consider getting rid of the commission.

He said: “No, because when the Stormont House Agreement was reached, almost everybody recognised you need a mechanism for recovering information and you need a way of continuing investigations.

“And those two functions are in effect combined in ICRIR.

“I came to the conclusion that I really don’t understand the point in abolishing something, wasting all the money that has gone in, leading to further delays when families want answers.

“But we are committed to reforming the way it works.”

Mr Benn said he was still studying the Court of Appeal judgment and would not comment on whether it would be challenged.

Delivering his speech to the Labour Party conference in Liverpool on Monday, the Northern Ireland Secretary said it had fallen to his party to put right the “Tory wrong” over legacy.

He said: “I have met many families who have lost loved ones in the Troubles. I have found it very difficult to listen to their stories.

“Imagine what it is like for them as they recount yet again the sheer brutality of what happened.

“And some tell of the passing of the years without finding answers.

“The Tories’ Legacy Act has rightly been rejected by victims and survivors, all of the Northern Ireland political parties and the Irish Government, and that is why Labour will repeal and replace it. And we will, of course, make ICRIR, the independent commission whose job it is to find those answers for families, compliant with Article 2 of the Convention on Human Rights.

“We will consult widely in doing so. Recognising in doing so that this will require some really difficult discussions and conversations because many people will hold different views about the right way forward.

“But do you know what, history teaches us that it is only by coming to terms with the past that we can move forward to the future.”

Grainne Teggart, Northern Ireland deputy director for Amnesty International UK, said it “should be patently obvious” to Mr Benn why the ICRIR needs to be scrapped.

She said: “No part of the last government’s Troubles Act should stand.

“If the Secretary of State is committed to properly addressing the past he should pay attention to what the court said on Friday, listen to victims and repeal the Act and replace the ICRIR entirely.

“You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear; there is no way to make do and mend the ICRIR.

“The only option is to bin it entirely and go back to the Stormont House Agreement and build from there.

“There must be no more unilateral decisions from Westminster on Troubles legacy, victims deserve better.”