The UK’s legacy legislation cannot be changed to “shift the balance” from an agreed framework with Ireland, the Irish Foreign Affairs Minister has said.
Earlier this week, the Oireachtas Justice Committee recommended that the Irish Government should formally oppose proposed elements of UK legislation which would require the Attorney General for England and Wales to give consent for Troubles-related prosecution.
The Attorney General for England and Wales is a political appointee, with a separate Attorney General for Northern Ireland appointed by the First Minister and deputy First Minister under devolution.
Concerns have been raised by Irish politicians that that measure and other amendments in the UK’s Northern Ireland Troubles Bill, sent to the House of Lords two weeks ago, could undermine the independence of prosecutorial decision-making.
Asked if she would raise objections with her London counterparts, Minister Helen McEntee said there was continued engagement with the UK Government.
In September 2025, the UK and Ireland agreed a joint framework of the legacy of the Troubles – including measures on overhauling investigative and information recovery bodies.
Speaking to reporters in Cork, Ms McEntee said: “The framework that was agreed last September is the framework that must be applied to their legislation and to our legislation.
“Anything that would change that, anything that would shift that balance – but in particular anything that would cause concern for victims, for survivors, and for families most importantly – that always has to be taken into consideration.
“I’m not going to go any further than to say we are engaged continuously with the UK Government, engaged with the Secretary of State, and I am very clear that there will be no proposals and no amendments that shift that balance, or indeed that victims or survivors or their families feeling that is the case either.”
Pressed on whether the inclusion of the Attorney General amendment was enough for Ireland to maintain its interstate case against the UK, Ms McEntee said: “There’s a number of different elements to the amendment that’s been proposed, and obviously, you know, you have to look at that in the round, and the possibilities of appeals.
“And obviously what’s proposed at the moment, there is an appeal mechanism.
“So there’s lots of things that we need to talk through and to tease through.
“But we are very, very clear that we cannot have a situation where any new amendments would tip the balance here, because the work that was done previously is extremely finely balanced, and it is about making sure we stick to that as much as possible.”
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