Aontú Leader and Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín has written to the Cathaoirleach of the Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement seeking an emergency meeting to discuss the Legacy Bill and the issues with the Assembly.
He has also sought for invitations be issued to the Minister for Foreign Affairs Mícheal Martin; the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton Harris; and leader of the DUP Jeffery Donaldson to attend the meeting.
Deputy Tóibín told Northern Sound that the relationship between Ireland and Britain "is in a dark place". He said The Good Friday Agreement is "in cold storage" and the human rights of victims and survivors north and south is about to take an enormous hit.
The Meath West TD says that the issue of Truth and Justice is key to the human rights of this island's citizens and to the Good Friday Agreement, yet the British Legacy Bill is imminent. He pointed out that the Bill stands to "wreck" any chance of truth and justice for thousands of people and the Irish Government cannot stand idly by any more.
Deputy Tóibín added that the Irish Government needs to state publicly that it will take the British Government to the European Court of Human Rights if they proceed with the Legacy Bill. "The democratic institutions of the Good Friday Agreement- the institutions of the people - are in cold storage for an age now," he continued.
"And all the while public services such as health, education, housing and transport are corroding. Poverty, drug abuse and suicides are stalking communities wreaking havoc and destruction among families. Yet there is no one at the wheel. This would not be tolerable in any other democratic State. It cannot be tolerable here.
"The DUP Leader Jeffery Donaldson has questions to answer. His party's boycott cannot be allowed to continue. The rules underpinning the democratic institutions must be changed to prevent collapse happening ever again".
