British prime minister Rishi Sunak strongly criticised Taoiseach Leo Varadkar for Ireland’s case against the UK’s legacy act during a telephone call between the two men on Tuesday to discuss the breakthrough at Stormont.
Mr Varadkar announced before Christmas that the Irish Government would take legal action in the European Court of Human Rights against the UK over the legislation, which allows immunity to be offered to the perpetrators of Troubles-era crimes
In a call on Tuesday, Mr Sunak criticised the decision, and expressed the British government’s “disappointment” that Dublin would take the case at such a sensitive time in Northern Ireland.
In a statement, Government Buildings in Dublin said the call with Mr Sunak had been “a good call” to discuss the political breakthrough in the North – which could see the return of Stormont by the weekend – and that the two men “agreed to keep in touch over the coming period”.
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But in a briefing to political correspondents, Downing Street confirmed that parts of the call had been much less harmonious.
“The prime minister expressed his disappointment at the timing and course of action in December, coming at such a sensitive time,” a spokesperson said.
“He noted that the Irish Government had yet to respond to important questions about its own approach to legacy issues, including with regard to investigations into the 1998 Omagh bombing. The UK government would continue to pursue answers to those questions which had been laid out by the Secretary of State, including with regard to the lack of criminal prosecutions in Ireland.”
It was put to Number 10 by reporters at the briefing that the call between the two leaders sounded “testy”, and the readout was unusually blunt in diplomatic terms, although Mr Sunak’s spokeswoman played down these suggestions. She said it was a “good call” with the Taoiseach. However, she reiterated the UK government’s sense of “disappointment” with the Republic for taking the case.
On Tuesday night, a spokesman for the Taoiseach played down the reports of the difficult aspects of the call.
“It was a positive call focused on welcoming the good news from Belfast. It’s common knowledge that the two governments have different approaches on legacy issues. But we also agreed that it’s important that we continue to work together on other areas.”
Regarding political developments in Northern Ireland, the text of the legislation which secured the DUP’s return to powersharing is to be published by the UK on Wednesday.
The publication of the proposals is the next step in the process which will see the Assembly recalled and a Speaker nominated, ending the two-year limbo caused by the DUP’s boycott.
Ministries and Assembly seats will be allocated according to the result of the 2022 Assembly election, and the Sinn Féin vice-president, Michelle O’Neill, will take up her position as first minister – the first time in the history of Northern Ireland a nationalist has held the role.
The breakthrough was announced at a press conference on Tuesday morning following a five-hour meeting of the DUP’s executive, when the party leader Jeffrey Donaldson announced that “subject to binding commitments” being “fully and faithfully delivered as agreed” the package of measures provided a basis for the party’s return to Stormont.
The Northern Secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris, confirmed the UK government “will stick to this agreement” and said he now believed “all the conditions are in place for the Assembly to return.”
The imminent restoration of powersharing was welcomed by the other main parties in the North and by trade unions, which repeated their call for the Northern Secretary to release the money to settle the public sector pay dispute and said strike action would continue until it is resolved.
The full text of the deal is expected on Wednesday afternoon when Mr Heaton-Harris is due to lay a Command Paper before the House of Commons.
He declined to be drawn on the detail on Tuesday, telling reporters the changes were “significant” and had not affected divergence from EU rules “in any shape or form.”
In an interview on the BBC’s Good Morning Ulster, Mr Donaldson said it got rid of the border in the Irish Sea, saying there would be “zero checks, zero customs paperwork on goods moving within the United Kingdom”.
His party colleague Edwin Poots said the legislation would require European agreement, saying “there’ll be no Assembly until that happens…. which indicates that it is significant changes, it’s not tinkering about the margins.”
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