British government claims “We do not own the past.”

In recent submissions to the Council of Europe, the British government suggests that human rights violations in the north of Ireland which occurred under direct rule should be the responsibility of the devolved administration to clean up. A number of cases had been brought to the European Court of Human Rights by families whose loved ones were killed by the State, including those of Gervase McKerr, Patrick Shanahan and Pearse Jordan. These cases resulted in the UK government being found …

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America isn’t really interested in our domestic squabbles

Having spent last week in Washington, D.C. and New York, I spent the weekend catching up on the news from home that I’d missed and indeed mulling over the conversations about home I’d had. Secretary of State Theresa Villiers announced last week a new round of all-party talks designed to break the impasse on the past, parades, flags, welfare reform and anything else anyone cares to throw into the mix now or at any time before the commencement of talks …

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