Sir, – The speculation that the British government is planning an amnesty for British soldiers and paramilitaries accused of crimes in Northern Ireland seems like a deep betrayal. As someone who was reared in Northern Ireland and saw the conflict, I understand the devastation felt by those who have suffered terrible injustices.
However, in my view the pursuit of prosecutions has entrenched the zero-sum dynamic that is at the root of the conflict in Northern Ireland. Reconciliation has been stalled. A legal system that produces winners and losers cannot address the cause of the conflict or give answers.
If the British government decides to stop prosecutions then it opens the possibility for settings where the truth can be told and people who have waited years for answers might have a greater possibility of getting them. I do not want to add to people’s suffering. I just want to offer hope of another way if this speculation becomes a reality. – Yours, etc,
ELAINE BYRNE,
Ballinteer,
Dublin 16.