Bereaved parents, as well as politicians in Northern Ireland are hopeful that the new UK Labour Government will repeal and replace widely contested legislation that grants immunity to "cooperating individuals" regarding the decades-long Troubles.
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00:00The troubles in Northern Ireland between 1969 and 1998 claimed over 3,500 lives.
00:08Many of the killings on both sides of the Catholic-Protestant divide remain unsolved,
00:13leaving many families looking for truth and justice.
00:16Pat Malloy attends the Wave Trauma Centre in Belfast.
00:20His Irish-Catholic son, John, was murdered by a British Protestant mob in 1996.
00:26To this day, the known killers have not been brought to justice
00:29amidst claims of collusion with the British security services.
00:33He says the legacy act was like being attacked by the British state all over again.
00:38That was a real kick up the backside for us.
00:42Whoever brought that in, let him walk in my shoes and let him know what I'm going through
00:48because of the murder of my son and not getting any information from him
00:52and then telling me that the people who killed my son were going to walk away free.
00:57The new Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Hilary Benn, has pledged to repeal and replace the legacy act.
01:04Politicians on the Irish nationalist side of the divide say they will do everything they can
01:09to ensure that the British government sticks to its promise to abolish the act.
01:14It's completely critical that they repeal, replace and frankly do away with this abhorrent legacy act.
01:23It was one of the worst things the previous Tory government did.
01:26It was designed to insulate British soldiers from accountability.
01:30The Irish government has already begun interstate legal proceedings against the British to abolish the act.
01:36With the Irish Taoiseach meeting the new British Prime Minister in London next week,
01:40hopes are high that a legal contest with the British will now be no longer necessary.
01:45The Irish take the view that abolishing the act is crucial for the dignity of victims.
01:50I think the Labour government now has a big majority in the House of Commons.
01:53This is about victims and their needs and I think that's foremost in our minds in all of this process
02:00and I think it will be now foremost in the minds of the British government.
02:04The British government has indicated that it intends to abolish the controversial legacy act.
02:09In doing so, it has raised the hopes and expectations of many, many families here in Northern Ireland
02:14that someday soon they will get answers to questions about the controversial killings of their loved ones
02:19in controversial circumstances.
02:21Only time will tell if the British will live up to their word.
02:25This is Ken Murray for Euronews in Belfast, Northern Ireland.