Protests outside Hillsborough ahead of PM visit
Protesters against proposals to deal with Troubles legacy cases in NI, supporters of the NI Protocol and Irish Language activists gathered in Hillsborough.
Last updated 16th May 2022
Protests are taking place in Hillsborough, Co Down ahead of the Prime Minister's visit.
Boris Johnson is meeting the main Stormont parties at the royal residence in the village on Monday afternoon amid the latest impasse in power sharing government at Stormont.
Protesters held banners which read "Back off Boris. Protect The Protocol".
There was also a demonstration by some of the families of the 11 people killed by soldiers in Ballymurphy in west Belfast in 1971 against plans by Government to offer an effective amnesty to prosecution for Troubles offences.
In a Belfast Telegraph article, Mr Johnson said: “We have listened to many people in recent months and reflected on what we heard.
"Dealing with the past will still require difficult decisions but there will be no blanket amnesty.
"Immunity will only be available to those who co-operate and prosecutions could follow for those who do not.”
Amnesty International has urged the UK government to "pull back from a dangerous course of unilateral action on legacy of the conflict".
Dangerous course of action
Grainne Teggart, campaigns manager for Amnesty International UK, said the government is on a "collision course with rights and the rule of law".
"They must pull back, now, from a dangerous course of unilateral action on legacy and the protocol," she said.
"We have yet to see a real departure from plans to legislate for a de facto amnesty. We will be watching closely, along with victims, to see if the strong objections and warnings on lack of human rights compliance have been listened to."
Ms Teggart also expressed concern at the government's approach to the Northern Ireland Protocol.
She said any unravelling of the international agreement between the UK and EU "could threaten guarantees within the protocol, including essential human rights protections for people in Northern Ireland".
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