What is behind the row between the British and Irish governments?
There have been heated exchanges in light of a decision by Ireland to sue the UK over new legislation that attempts to draw a line under the Troubles. Sean O’Grady looks at the implications of the latest war of words on an issue that continues to beleaguer British-Irish relations
![<p>Ireland’s deputy prime minister Micheal Martin (left) and Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris at Farmleigh House, Dublin, during the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference earlier this year </p>](https://static.independent.co.uk/2023/12/19/17/ceca6e6901afc4dbf37beed3a62d95dfY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzAzMDkyMDk4-2.74700811.jpg)
Ireland’s deputy prime minister Micheal Martin (left) and Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris at Farmleigh House, Dublin, during the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference earlier this year
The Irish government has decided to sue the UK under the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights over a new law that attempts to draw a line under the Troubles. Ireland’s deputy prime minister, Micheal Martin, explained that the UK scheme is opposed by many who were affected by Northern Ireland’s deadly decades-long conflict, “especially the victims and families”.
The decision provoked a militant reaction from the British government. The secretary of state for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris, suggested hypocrisy on the part of Ireland: “The Irish government should urgently clarify the number of criminal prosecutions brought in Ireland since 1998 relating to Troubles cases,” he said, reiterating a common complaint within unionist quarters and among some Tories.
The issue has proved another irritant to UK-Irish relations, after a period in which they had been warming a little and progress had been made on the intractable problems created by Brexit, overlaid as they are on centuries of strife.
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