Sept. 19 (UPI) — The U.K. government will replace its controversial Northern Ireland Legacy and Reconciliation Act of 2023 with new laws to address killings that occurred during The Troubles era.
Representatives of the U.K. and Irish governments on Friday reached agreements on several proposals that are intended to address losses suffered by Irish families, the BBC reported.
Among points of contention is the 2023 Legacy Act that was approved by the U.K. government and provides amnesty for British military veterans for killings that occurred during The Troubles era.
A new commission and a dedicated unit within the Irish police force will investigate killings that occurred during The Troubles era in Northern Ireland to resolve decades-old cases.
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Harris called Friday’s agreements a “night and day improvement” over the Legacy Act, The Guardian reported.
Harris is among Irish officials who are to make public the agreements and other proposals to address The Troubles and related killings.
The agreements reached on Friday will not end an active interstate case filed by the Irish government in the wake of the Legacy Act’s approval in 2023.
Some British military leaders criticized the agreements for making elderly veterans vulnerable to potential prosecution.
Meanwhile, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said the agreements must be “victim-centered” and comply with human rights law to be accepted, according to the BBC.
The Troubles era refers to centuries-old conflicts in Northern Ireland that culminated in a 30-year conflict from the late 1960s until the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, according to the Imperial War Museums.
The agreement ended fighting that pitted the British military and many Protestants in Northern Ireland against the Irish Republican Army, other paramilitary forces and many Irish Catholics, who wanted to establish an independent Irish state.
The Troubles included many bombings and street fighting that caused the deaths of thousands of Irish civilians until the 1998 cease-fire agreement.
The conflict had its roots in the early 17th century, when Protestants from Scotland and northern England first settled in what would become Northern Ireland.