Fresh round of controversial talks ‘could have huge implications for legacy cases’
A NEW meeting of a controversial legacy talks forum hosted by the Archbishop of Canterbury is expected to take place in London today, an MLA has said.
Ulster Unionist justice spokesperson Doug Beattie said he understood the meeting would be held at Lambeth Palace.
A previous meeting last month was criticised by a victims’ group that claimed it had been excluded from the process.
The guest list was reported to have included officials from the Northern Ireland Office, the Republic’s Department of Foreign Affairs, the Sinn Fein strategist Sean ‘Spike’ Murray and the high-profile loyalist Winston Irvine.
It was also attended by former Bedfordshire Assistant Chief Constable Jon Boutcher, who is heading the Operation Kenova legacy investigation.
Mr Beattie said he was concerned that if today’s meeting was attended by the Northern Ireland Office, the Ministry of Defence and Mr Boutcher, it could have “serious implications” for how legacy issues are dealt with. “We are told it was only a seminar. It wasn’t a decision-making forum. It wasn’t a secret. Sean Murray was there as a Sinn Fein representative, then he wasn’t,” he added.
“The reality is that a seminar could have been held in Belfast. If it wasn’t a secret, it could have been publicised.
“If (the talks) were genuinely open-minded as to an outcome, why was the only solution that seems to have been discussed predicated on the discredited legacy arrangements of the Stormont House Agreement?
“Why were victims excluded? And who exactly organised this and was making the decisions?”