Christmas spirit, nothing at all. The weight of history (colonial oppression, religious and independence wars, partition, Ulster conflict and the cherry on top of Brexit) is perhaps too strong for there to be any. The Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom come to a fight on Christmas Eve, in the midst of a diplomatic crisis, and at one of the lowest points in their relations since the Good Friday Agreements of 1998.
The reason is the Legacy and Reconciliation Act approved by the Westminster Parliament and in force since September, which grants an amnesty to British soldiers (and also to paramilitaries on both sides, but they already had it in fact) for possible crimes committed during the Troubles, the virtual civil war that left 3,600 dead and infinite hatred and resentment that is passed from generation to generation.
Dublin has decided to challenge the legality of the Act before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, considering that it is a denial of justice for the relatives of the 600 republican victims of the United Kingdom soldiers. Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has explained that he politically has a commitment to them that he cannot ignore, no matter how much London throws a tantrum.
Joe Biden, who has little sympathy for England, has given his full support to the Irish decision
The British Government has been very angry, denouncing Irish “Anglophobia” and “hypocrisy”, which in fact – it says – has prosecuted very few suspects of crimes in Ulster in court, granted de facto immunity to terrorists of the IRA, ignored the presence in its territory of those who crossed the border to plant bombs and then returned to their homes in Dundalk or County Donegal, systematically denied their extradition and has applied a moratorium on the investigation of the crimes of which they are accused. He thinks Dublin does not lead by example, but rather applies double standards.
One of the premises of the Good Friday Agreements was the release of hundreds of prisoners (a condition imposed by the IRA to renounce weapons), wipe the slate clean and hope that the wounds would heal little by little. But there was no amnesty for crimes that had not been prosecuted until then. Finding evidence against both IRA and loyalist paramilitaries, decades later, is extremely difficult. But on the other hand, the army keeps testimonies and documents about everything, which has put in the spotlight dozens of former soldiers – today in their seventies or eighties – accused of murdering Catholics (the majority do not deny having shot, but having done in self-defense or to prevent attacks, under orders from their superiors). The possibility of being tried and punished is a burden they have lived with for a long time, and they believed they had gotten rid of it with the Act approved by Westminster. But no, Dublin has chosen to go to Strasbourg.
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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the right wing of the Conservative Party, and war veterans’ organizations have condemned the Dublin decision and stated that they will defend with all their might the validity of the amnesty law, which imposes the only condition on soldiers’ collaboration with a new Commission for Truth and Reconciliation. For Eurosceptics, this is one more reason for the United Kingdom to abandon the European Convention on Human Rights, “so that our sovereignty is not subject to what Strasbourg says.”
Dublin, in any case, has not acted alone, but with the approval of North American President Joe Biden, who gave his support to Taoiseach Varadkar during the last United Nations General Assembly. The Democratic leader, codenamed Celtic, is very proud of his Irish ancestors, his relatives fled England due to the famine, he has denied a trade deal to the United Kingdom and has taken Brexit almost as a personal affront. , for endangering the peace agreements.
With elections in sight both in the Republic and in Great Britain, wishing each other Happy Holidays is not the priority of either of them at this time. A good fight is worth more votes.
2023-12-23 06:30:18
#Crisis #Dublin #London #amnesty #British #soldiers
