Avoiding the Legacy of Impunity
This week for the second time in history the Irish Government has announced its intention to lodge an Inter-State application against the United Kingdom before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The Irish government argues that the Northern Ireland Troubles (Reconciliation and Legacy) Act 2023 which was enacted in September 2023 and provides an extensive conditional amnesty is incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
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On the Pylos Shipwreck
Only 104 out of the 750 passengers who travelled on the fishing boat, which capsized on June 14 and sank in the Ionian Sea, were rescued. The bodies of 80 have been recovered so far and the remaining passengers, an estimated total of as many as 500 people, including large numbers of women and children, remain missing. The boat had departed from Libya the previous Friday and was heading towards Italy. The tragic shipwreck, which immediately became yet another icon of the never-ending catastrophe of asylum seeking in the Mediterranean, occurred on the high seas, 87 kilometres from the Greek Coast. As long as the overarching policy aim is to deter racialized migrants from entering the EU, tragedies like the one in Pylos are bound to continue.
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Neutrality and the Irish Constitution
Ireland, like other neutral states, has witnessed intense debates in recent weeks over the future of its neutral status. Ireland is not a member of NATO and has maintained an ambiguous status of ‘neutrality’ since independence. However, neutrality as such is not a constitutional requirement, and insofar as it obtains at all, has more the character of a policy or tradition. Departures from that tradition – particularly the joining of NATO – would nonetheless likely encounter certain constitutional barriers. In particular, it seems likely that membership of NATO would require a constitutional referendum.
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