Hours after a fresh inquest into the death of Billy McGreanery was approved by the North’s Attorney General, the Legacy Act brought a halt to all such enquiries; on Wednesday the Labour government pledged to reinstate them.
“It was sitting dormant. Going nowhere,” said his nephew, also Billy McGreanery. “Now it’s gone from one extreme to the other, because it’s going to be revisited.
“We’ve gone from a hopeless situation to a hopeful situation.”
The commitment came in the King’s Speech, when the new UK government under Labour prime minister Keir Starmer set out its legislative plans.
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It included, as expected, commitment to repeal the Legacy Act, the controversial law passed by the previous, Conservative government, which replaced existing methods of addressing the legacy of the Troubles, including inquests.
Almost 40 inquests into the deaths of 77 people during the Troubles were shelved when the act came into effect on May 1st. On Wednesday the new government is to “set out steps” to “allow Troubles-era inquests which were prematurely halted to resume”.
Belfast solicitor Pádraig Ó Muirigh, who represents a number of families in Troubles-era inquests, said it was “welcome news, and the right thing to do given the legal challenges to this legislation.
“The families that are affected will obviously be very happy to hear this, but I suppose they’ve been left down many times before, and it’s been a long journey.
“We will want to see what those next steps are, and these inquests need to be reassigned to coroners and the coroners then need to timetable their completion, and given many of these are outstanding for years, decades in some examples, these steps need to be taken as early as possible,” he said.
“It seems to be a step in the right direction,” said Mr McGreanery jnr. “Governments make promises before elections that sometimes aren’t fulfilled, so it’s encouraging that they’ve followed through quickly and said they’re going to do this.
“Of course, we don’t know yet the entirety of what’s going to be repealed, but it has to be a positive move.”
One of Mr McGreanery jnr’s most treasured possessions is a watch that belonged to his uncle. “He was a manager in McLaughlin’s sports shop [in Derry] and received a present of a very fancy Omega watch from the owner for working for the company for 25 years.
“He was well-known and well respected. He used to sort out the boots for the Derry City football team and lace the footballs.
“When our mother, Mary, died of leukaemia aged 30, Uncle Billy stepped in and became our second Daddy.”
Mr McGreanery snr was wearing the watch when he was shot by a British soldier in Derry in September 1971. Branded a gunman by the British army, the 41-year-old died in hospital hours later.
[ The Irish Times view on the Troubles Legacy Act: a welcome commitment to repealOpens in new window ]
It took his family almost four decades to clear his name, eventually receiving an apology from the ministry of defence and the UK government.
They continue to campaign for the soldier who shot him to be prosecuted and want his inquest – and those of other victims of the Troubles – to go ahead.
“It was ridiculous and disgraceful that they were ever halted, not just for my family, for every family, whatever their walk of life, whatever their religion,” said Mr McGreanery jnr. “The whole thing was just a farce, and it said a lot that every party, be it the DUP or Sinn Féin, was against it.
“It’s only right that families are given every chance to get to the truth of what actually happened to their loved ones.”
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