The Troubles was a period of conflict which lasted for 30 years and cost the lives of more than 3,500 people
By Enda McClafferty
BBC News NI political editor
The government’s controversial Legacy Bill has passed after voting took place at Westminster on Wednesday.
A bid by the House of Lords to amend the bill was defeated by 288 to 205.
The bill which will end Troubles-era new cases and inquests, and offer a conditional amnesty to those accused of killings will return to the Lords next week before going for royal assent.
It has been widely opposed by victims groups and all Northern Ireland’s political parties.
The government says the legislation is an attempt to draw a line under the events of the past.
Prosecutions which are currently ongoing will continue to conclusion.
Veterans groups – such as the Northern Ireland Veterans Movement – widely support the bill.
However, some other military veterans have criticised it.
On Tuesday, the Lords backed an amendment to give victims’ families a greater say in granting immunity from prosecution to offenders.
But the Conservative majority in the House of Commons rejected that on Wednesday, clearing the path for the legislation to be sent for royal assent.
‘Exceptionally cruel’ bill
Speaking before the debate, Sinn Féin MP John Finucane described the bill as devastating for families, adding it would unilaterally close the door on them getting truth and justice.
Mr Finucane’s father, solicitor Pat Finucane, was shot dead by loyalist gunmen at his home in Belfast in 1989.
“When we had the New Decade, New Approach political agreement, the British government made a promise, a commitment, in that agreement that they would legislate for Stormont House within 100 days,” he said.
“One hundred days later, they made a very public and dramatic U-turn without any consultation.
“The British government have refused to listen and refused to act, and instead they plough ahead with a piece of legislation which is exceptionally cruel.”
The north Belfast MP’s father, Pat, was shot dead by loyalist gunmen in 1989
Mr Finucane said the Irish government asking for legal advice from its attorney general over taking a potential inter-state case was a “crucial” step.
“It would have the potential to stop the work of the bodies as part of this legislation and we could get a resolution much quicker than if families have to face the burden of going through our legal process.”
‘A terrible injustice’
Billy McGreanery’s uncle, William McGreanery, was killed by the Army on 15 September 1971
The family of a man who was shot and killed by a soldier in Londonderry on 15 September 1971 has labelled the legacy bill “a disgrace”.
William McGreanery was shot in the Bogside area of Derry by a member of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards.
His nephew, Billy McGreanery, who was just 13 when his uncle was killed, said he fears the bill could rob many families of justice.
Their own family’s case is currently with the Public Prosecution Service (PPS).
“I think a terrible injustice has been done to every family in this country,” Mr McGreanery told BBC Radio Foyle.
“Anybody that has lost people in the Troubles should have justice, I don’t even know how they [the government] can even justify it.
“On the worldwide stage it’s a disgrace that they are treating people this way and if this was any other part of the UK, I don’t think they would get away with this.”
The topic of dealing with the past has been a contentious political issue for a long time in Northern Ireland.
More than 1,000 killings from the Troubles have never been solved.
It has been brought into the main news headlines in recent years as a soldier has been in court charged with murdering two people in 1972.
The man, known only as Soldier F, is accused of killing the men during what became known as Bloody Sunday, when the Army’s Parachute Regiment opened fire on a civil rights march in Derry.
Opposition to the bill will now switch from the political to the legal arena as a string of court challenges are being lined up to try and derail the government’s plans.
