Gerry Adams’ legal action tries to give hope to the victims’ families. Former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said he intended to take legal action against the British Government. The British Government is seeking to prohibit the payment of compensation to those imprisoned without trial during decades of conflict in Northern Ireland. Moreover, Ireland’s Government also said it would take legal action against British authorities.
The Troubles refer euphemistically to the 30-year-long period of conflict that cost thousands of lives in Northern Ireland. The Troubles came about due to long-held grievances between Catholics and Protestants. They had strongly opposed opinions about Northern Ireland’s relationship with Great Britain.
Gerry Adams’ Legal Action: Supporting Victims
Former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said he intended to take legal action against the British Government. The British Government is seeking to prohibit the payment of compensation to those imprisoned without trial during decades of conflict in Northern Ireland. Adams led the Irish nationalist party during much of the conflict. He was among hundreds of people held by Britain without trial in the early 1970s under a policy meant to break the Irish Republican Army. He has always denied membership in the militant group.
In a statement, Adams said he has directed his legal team to follow up on the legal action against Keir Starmer’s decision. Gerry Adams’ legal action is against Starmer, who retrospectively changed a law that the Conservative Government broke over 50 years ago. He said upwards of 400 other internees could be denied compensation due to the decision.
London Legislation: Violence in Northern Ireland
Gerry Adams’ legal action against London happened after the new legislation. London published proposed legislation on Tuesday. They want to enact a new framework to address the legacy of decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. Part of the Bill seeks to prevent the detained from receiving compensation without trial. Adams highlighted that the Bill included the measure introducing new “protections”. The former Sinn Féin leader accused Britain of hypocrisy and duplicity. He claimed it was legislating to “protect British soldiers and RUC [Royal Ulster Constabulary] officers. They try to avoid facing the legal consequences of their criminal actions.
U.K. veterans’ groups are among the few organizations to have welcomed the legislation. It lifts the threat of prosecution from troops who served in Northern Ireland. A booby-trapped Irish Republican Army bomb at a house in Derry in 1988 killed Dalton’s father, Sean Dalton. He said the legal challenge gives bereaved families hope. She told People that they and their families have nowhere to go. She noted that knowing somebody is fighting in their corner gives them fresh hope and optimism.
Ireland’s Government Takes Legal Actions Against British Authorities
Ireland’s Government said it would take legal action against British authorities on Wednesday. The action is against a controversial law that provides partial immunity from prosecution for offenses committed during three decades of sectarian violence. Deputy Prime Minister Micheál Martin said the Irish Government gave the idea careful thought and consideration. It is launching a legal challenge against the Legacy and Reconciliation Bill. The Bill shuts down access to justice for victims and survivors.
The September law ends most of the prosecutions for suspected killings by Northern Ireland militant groups and British troops during the Troubles. The Troubles are the three decades of violence in Northern Ireland. More than 3,500 people died. Those who cooperate with the new Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery can get immunity from prosecution. The new law also halts future civil cases and legacy inquests. It was passed despite strong opposition from the Irish Government, political parties, and victims’ organizations in Northern Ireland.
The British Government’s New Bill: Gerry Adams’ legal action
The 1998 Good Friday peace accord largely ended the decades of violence. Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it would empower Northern Ireland to draw a line under the Troubles. Actually, he proposed the new Bill. But those who lost loved ones at the hands of Irish republican and British loyalist militias and U.K. troops say the new law will conceal the past. It also allows killers to get away with murder. Dozens of legacy inquests have yet to be heard.
Martin said that even in cases without immunity, reviews by the independent commission will not be an adequate substitute for police investigations. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, would take the case. It will argue that aspects of the law are incompatible with the U.K.’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Legacy of the Troubles: Catholics and Protestants
The Troubles refer to the 30-year war of violence that raged in Northern Ireland for decades, claiming thousands of lives. Longstanding conflicts between Catholics and Protestants caused the Troubles. They differed vigorously in their views on the relationship between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. A common short distance and a long-shared history held the two nations together, sowing the seeds of war. Several waves of conquerors populated Ireland throughout its earliest history, including the Celts, Vikings, and Anglo-Saxons. However, since 1541, the British monarchy has ruled Ireland. However, English settlers eventually inhabited the northern part of the island. Under British rule, the Irish, who were predominantly Catholic, were forced to give up their land, and the predominantly Protestant settlers occupied it.
Hostility between the Protestants and Catholics remained, and Britain’s use of the island as a colony to be settled only served to promote it.
Over time, there was a movement for Irish nationalism, and after decades of brutal fighting, Britain partitioned the country in 1921. Ireland, which was overwhelmingly Catholic, gained its independence. Northern Ireland, which was promoted as a Protestant nation for Protestants, remained part of the United Kingdom. But not all favored this union with the U.K. in Northern Ireland. Therefore, the newly established nation was rocked by sectarian violence from the very start. Catholics, under Protestant rule, who were privileged and had their rights discriminatorily enforced, demanded equal rights and political freedom.
Legacy of the Troubles: The End
Catholic nationalists soon redoubled their efforts. They held a march from Belfast to Derry in January 1969. It depicted Martin Luther King, Jr.’s march to Selma in America. Groups of loyalists attacked the marchers throughout the protest. Moreover, the loyalists ambushed the protesters on the final day at Burntollet Bridge near Derry. Protestant police took no action against the loyalists, even though they employed clubs, stones, and other devices. Therefore, riots swept over Derry.
Northern Ireland has found it hard historically to reconcile the heritage of the Troubles, a 30-year conflict with the deaths of almost 3,700 people — in most cases, civilians — through sectarian murders. Following more than a decade of turmoil, the British and Irish Governments began collaborating more closely in the early 1980s to reach a political settlement for all the people of Northern Ireland. The two Governments issued a Joint Declaration in 1993. The declaration stated a charter of reconciliation and peace for Ireland.
