The Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) is the most recent of a long line of attempts to address the hugely sensitive and complex subject of legacy issues since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.
Every other related initiative has encountered serious and predictable difficulties, and it is clear that the ICRIR, established under the former Conservative government’s deeply contentious Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act of 2023, is going to be no different.
However, even with the limited expectations which surrounded the latest venture, it can only be a matter for considerable concern that the new commission has had such a distinctly slow start to its activities.
It could theoretically examine an enormous number of cases from the course of the Troubles, but, since May, it has received just 85 inquiries and it has also emerged that it has officially accepted only eight of them for investigation to date.
Given that the ICRIR has the authority to look into an appalling archive of dreadful incidents, which left almost 4,000 people dead and some 40,000 injured, there has plainly been a lack of momentum to the launch of its task.
The commission’s decision to release its ‘Accountability Update’ on a Sunday evening, with very limited details about the matters which it is pursuing, has also been widely noted and is unlikely to increase confidence in the wider process.
It is still early days, and the ICRIR’s chairman, the former Lord Chief Justice, Sir Declan Morgan, has stressed what he views as the independence of the organisation and the need for it to maintain a completely thorough approach at all times.
- Sir Declan Morgan - Have your say on the work of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information RecoveryOpens in new window
- Legacy Act: Troubles bereaved hail ‘important day’ as British government vows to repeal legislationOpens in new window
- First family of victim of British army to say it has engaged with controversial legacy bodyOpens in new window
The commission has also spoken of its “unprecedented powers” to compel individuals and organisations to provide it with the information it requires to conduct investigations, so its progress will be closely monitored.
Any intervention over legacy must have credibility, and Tánaiste Micheál Martin, who certainly does not have a track record of rushing into criticism of public bodies, has already expressed his doubts about the ICRIR.
He said at the weekend that it required “root and branch reform”, while another respected voice, the former police ombudsman Dame Nuala O’Loan, has gone further and bluntly suggested that it should be scrapped.
A decision on the commission ultimately lies with the northern secretary of state, Hilary Benn, who has so far maintained the unusual position of insisting that it will be left in place while the 2023 Legacy Act which created it will be repealed.
There will be a firm onus on Mr Benn both to indicate a timetable for the removal of the flawed legislation and to clarify the changes which are to be made to the ICRIR.
The commission has spoken of its ‘unprecedented powers’ to compel individuals and organisations to provide it with information, so its progress will be closely monitored
