Sinn Féin’s Seán Crowe TD,  a member of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA), has called on the new British Government to fully implement their obligations under the Good Friday Agreement.

Crowe  also expressed his concerns of the new Government’s proposed plans to scrap the Human Rights Act, which could see Britain pull out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and which in turn  would breach the GFA.

Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“Last week the Conservative Party won an absolute majority in the Westminster elections and there is mounting concern in Ireland over some of the plans this new Government have.

“The last outgoing British Government had failed to uphold outstanding commitments in relation to the Good Friday and St. Andrew’s Agreements. This includes the failure to implement an independent  inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane.

“A civil inquiry into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings has been stonewalled and sidelined. The Acht na Gaeilge continues to be ignored. There has been no movement on a Bill of Rights. There are no working plans or strategies to address these outstanding matters of critical importance.

“There are also major concerns with the new Tory Government’s pledge to scrap the Human Rights Act and pull out of the European Convention on Human Rights. This would directly breach what was agreed in the GFA.

“The Irish Government as co-guarantor of the GFA has a critical part to play and needs to oppose any moves by Britain to roll back from key human rights commitments that it signed up in the GFA.

“There is also an onus on the Irish Government as co-guarantor  to set out  now a clear strategy for the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and all outstanding elements of previous agreements.”

ENDS