Meeting of the Parliament 28 June 2023
I grew up with the troubles on my television screen. For families in Northern Ireland, it was their lives. Today, it can be easy for us to forget the daily backdrop of terror, devastation and death. I commend the recent five-part BBC documentary, “Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland”, which expertly tells the stories of some of those people who suffered and also of some of those who inflicted the suffering. The series is a timely reminder that, for many individuals and families, memories remain fresh and losses remain raw.
The legislative consent motion before us today relates to an independent commission for reconciliation and information recovery, which will investigate deaths and serious injuries relating to the troubles. Individuals who were involved in the troubles will be able to come forward and be provided with immunity—under certain strictly defined conditions—if they provide information relating to an event that took place that led to death or serious injury. That could be information that would help to identify the location of remains of people who were taken away to be tortured and executed by terrorists, or it could be knowledge that is harboured about one of the many bomb plots that claimed the lives of civilians or military personnel.