Peace requires justice in Northern Ireland
The need for stability in Northern Ireland should be inseparable from the desire for justice. Justice should be seen to apply equally to former IRA suspects and those who worked for the state. Of course the situation is complex: politicians have to tread carefully. Northern Ireland’s institutions were established in 1998 primarily to cast the peace process in stone, resulting in a delicate power-sharing agreement between communities.
The controversy surrounding the Renewable Heat Incentive is the latest crisis to undermine that consensus; fresh elections will be held on March 2. As James Brokenshire, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, writes on this page, Westminster’s goal must be to work with Belfast and Dublin to help steer everyone through this difficult time with diplomacy and tact.
But we must not lose our moral bearings. It is unfair that former IRA suspects have been shown leniency, while those who once worked for the state face continued investigation. In 2014, John Downey, who has denied his involvement in the 1982 Hyde Park bombing, was able to walk free from a court after revealing that he was one of many fugitive nationalists who had been sent a so-called “comfort letter” informing him he was no longer wanted by the police.
Defenders of the scheme say that it was a price worth paying for peace – but it has not been paid equally. The threat of jail still hangs over British soldiers. In December, for instance, it emerged that two retired soldiers had become the first to be prosecuted for murder in connection with a death during the Troubles – an investigation that Johnny Mercer MP branded a witch hunt, and that has prompted protests by veterans. The police and the Public Prosecution Service, meanwhile, insist that allegations against former soldiers are treated the same way as any others.
Mr Brokenshire writes here of “the imbalance of the current system of legacy investigations”, and concludes that the system is not working. We are pleased to see that he promises change, and that he speaks in the highest terms about the service performed by personnel in Northern Ireland. Achieving the right approach in this matter is not only in the interest of veterans but also critical to maintaining the delicate peace that both sides have worked so hard to achieve. It would be tragic to see the post-Troubles settlement betrayed.