The Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom are "very close" to agreeing a new framework to address legacy issues arising from the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said after meeting Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at Chequers on Friday.
Martin described the meeting as "warm and constructive" and said "very good progress has been made on legacy and the prime minister and I agreed that we are close to setting out a framework to address legacy issues, recognising its importance to victims and survivors, and to the wider community in Northern Ireland and across these islands." When asked whether the framework would be completed within weeks, he added: "I am not going to put a time down on it but it'll be shortly."
The comments follow widespread opposition in Ireland, among Northern Ireland's political parties and from victims' groups to the UK government's Legacy Act, which was passed in September 2023 by the previous Conservative administration. The Act created the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) to assume responsibility for Troubles-era cases from May 1, 2024, and suspended historical inquests. Its most contentious feature — the offer of conditional immunity to some suspects — was disapplied after bereaved families mounted legal challenges.
In December, the UK Northern Ireland Secretary, Hilary Benn, formally began the process to repeal the Legacy Act, a move welcomed by opponents who had argued the legislation curtailed victims' access to justice. Martin and Starmer discussed steps toward replacing the Act with a framework that would reflect the interests of victims and survivors and accommodate the sensitivities of communities on both sides of the Irish Sea.
The leaders also discussed international issues. Martin said they had reviewed "the catastrophic situation in Gaza — the need for a ceasefire, release of all hostages and a massive surge in humanitarian aid." He added that the two governments "committed to continue working together with the coalition of the willing to strengthen support for Ukraine and increase pressure on Russia to stop its war of aggression on the people of Ukraine."
Martin's account of progress on legacy arrangements follows remarks by Ireland's deputy prime minister, the tánaiste, who told a crowd in Oxford that a new agreement on dealing with legacy cases was "effectively there." The taoiseach's comments provide the strongest public signal yet that Dublin and London are advancing toward a negotiated replacement to the 2023 legislation.
Any new framework will need to navigate legal, political and emotional fault lines. For many bereaved families and survivors, the question of truth recovery and accountability remains paramount. Political parties in Northern Ireland are divided over mechanisms for addressing the past, with unionist and nationalist communities often holding sharply different priorities. The Irish government has consistently said it will oppose measures it views as undermining victims' rights or blocking access to the courts.
The two leaders met against a backdrop of ongoing instability in Northern Ireland politics and sustained international crises. The proposed framework, if agreed, would represent a major bilateral effort to resolve one of the most contentious legacies of the Troubles and to restore confidence among victims' groups and political actors that their concerns are being addressed through a process seen as both fair and durable.
Officials from both governments have yet to publish detailed proposals, and Martin declined to set a firm timetable for publication. He said only that progress had been made and that an agreed outline would be set out shortly, leaving open the precise form and legal content of any replacement to the 2023 Act.