Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he will make a decision in the coming weeks on whether to launch a legal challenge against the UK government's Northern Ireland Legacy Bill.
The controversial bill passed its final hurdle at Westminster today after MPs voted to overturn amendments made in the House of Lords, allowing the bill to proceed unchanged.
The plan, which will close down all civil and criminal Troubles cases - including inquests - from next May, has been vociferously opposed by all victims' groups and the political parties.
Mr Varadkar said that Ireland is assessing legal advice on the strength of taking a case over the bill.
"The Irish Government's position has been very clear on this all along: we think this is a mistake, this is the wrong way to go about dealing with legacy issues in Northern Ireland," the Taoiseach told reporters in Co Wicklow.
"There aren't many things that all of the five main parties in Northern Ireland agree on but they all agreed this is wrong, and this is not victim centred and not human rights proofed.
"I've said that to the Prime Minister, the Tánaiste has said it to his counterparts on many occasions.
"I'll say it again to the Secretary of State when I see him next week."
He added: "The Attorney General's preparing some legal advice on what the strength would be of us taking a case to the European Court on Human Rights, essentially saying that this bill, this act is not compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights, of which United Kingdom is a signatory."
'A cynical ploy'
The legislation would see an Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) which would deal with all future Troubles cases.
It would offer conditional immunity to killers in return for co-operation in establishing the facts of a case.
Reports would then be offered to families.
Campaigners say it is a cynical ploy to assure British Army veterans that there will be no further prosecutions linked to their time in Northern Ireland.
Army veterans have given the legislation a cautious welcome.
Earlier this week, Amnesty International beamed images of people killed by loyalist and republican paramilitaries at the hands of the British army onto the House of Commons.
"The projection on Parliament shows the faces of some of the victims whose families are being bitterly let down by the Government. It is a timely and critical reminder that it is the victims, not perpetrators of serious crimes, who should be prioritised," said its Northern Ireland director Grainne Teggart.
The legislation will shortly be sent for what's known as Royal Assent, which formally signs it into law.
That is likely to happen in the coming weeks but is a foregone conclusion.
Opponents of the bill say the courts, civil cases, inquests and other legacy investigations can still produce information which may support criminal prosecutions.
Legacy cases have produced a number of prosecutions of republicans and loyalists and five other such cases are still before the courts.
One soldier has been convicted of manslaughter in recent months and two other cases involving veterans are continuing, including one soldier accused of two murders and five attempted murders in Derry on Bloody Sunday.
Labour has promised to repeal the legislation if it forms the next UK government.
The man appointed to lead the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery says he expects victims' groups to challenge the legislation in the courts to establish whether it is compliant with the European Convention of Human Rights over its immunity clause.
Declan Morgan, ICRIR chief commissioner designate, said if it was found to be non-compliant then the authorities would have to "think again" and consider changes.
It is understood legal challenges are being prepared which will be lodged once the bill becomes law.
Speaking during a three-day visit to the Middle East, Tánaiste Micheál Martin said the Government was keeping the issue of a case at the European Court of Human Rights "under active review".
He said: "We've asked the British government would they pause the legislation. We still asked them to pause the legislation because we do not believe a unilateral decision like this, which the Irish Government and which all the other parties in Northern Ireland do not agree with, is a wise move."
'There are no words to express how deep that betrayal cuts'
Michael O'Hare, brother of Majella O'Hare, who was shot dead by a British soldier in Co Armagh when she was 12 in 1976, said: "The Government has abandoned victims in favour of protecting those who took the lives of our loved ones.
"There are no words to express how deep that betrayal cuts.
"It is not right for the Government to decide who gets justice for serious crimes such as murder and who doesn't.
"I will continue to fight - the lives of our loved ones mattered.
"This isn't over."
Campaigner Raymond McCord, whose son Raymond Jnr was murdered by loyalists in 1997, said the Government had shown no compassion for victims.
He said: "With the Conservatives using their majority in the House of Commons today to impose their Legacy Bill against the wishes of the victims of the Troubles, victims' groups, every other political party in the UK and Ireland.
"After the vote in the Commons today all political action is complete.
"However the outcome of the bill will be decided by the courts."
Kenny Donaldson, director of services at the victims' organisation South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF) said the UK government had "effectively relinquished their responsibilities in overseeing justice".
He added: "It is regrettable that they were not willing to accept the very reasonable amendment which came from the House of Lords yesterday which would have ensured that victims and survivors could feel somewhat empowered."
Legacy issues 'like a fog' in Northern Ireland
SDLP MP for South Belfast Claire Hanna said that at various stages of the debate, the UK government had "forced through its majority".
She said: "Their majority of MPs, many of whom have probably never spoken to a victim of the conflict in Northern Ireland - and as with quite a lot of polices - it's more about satisfying factions within the Conservative Party than it is about achieving reconciliation and truth in Northern Ireland."
Claire Hanna said that opposition to the bill was not about being "obsessed with the past", rather "precisely the opposite - it's about getting this sorted for the present and for the future".
She said legacy issues were "like a fog" around a lot of things in Northern Ireland and that one party to the conflict, i.e. the UK government can't say "well look it's over because we say it is".
She said the bill was about "allowing elites in paramilitaries and in security services to move on but it doesn't do anything for victims; it shuts down the various, quite complicated, but different, ways of redress that different victims could try to get and it essentially ends all that".
In the US, Democratic Congressman Richard Neal said he is "disappointed by the news that the Legacy Bill has passed" through the UK Parliament, saying it represents "a fundamental shift on the issues of the Troubles".
In a statement on social media site X, Mr Neal said: "The underlying principles of the good Friday agreement are what have allowed us to achieve 25 years of stability on the Island of Ireland.
I am disappointed by the news that the Legacy Bill has passed through Westminster. The underlying principles of peace in the Good Friday Agreement are what have allowed us to achieve 25 years of stability on the island of Ireland.
— Rep. Richard Neal (@RepRichardNeal) September 6, 2023
"Everyone involved, including both governments, acted together in good faith and gave up something to reach this agreement. 25 years later, we are now faced with the Legacy Bill, legislation that represents a fundamental shift on the issue of the Troubles."
He added: "Truth, transparency and justice. This is what the victims of this horrific period in Ireland's history, and their families, deserve. The Legacy Bill inhibits this from coming to fruition."
The Ad Hoc Committee to Protect the Good Friday Agreement, a group of current and former members of the US congress, issued the following statement: "For two years, we have been cautioning the UK government against proceeding with the Legacy Bill despite near-universal opposition and condemnation about the approach.
"The decision to proceed is deeply regretted. Nothing good can come from this decision. While more valuable time for justice is lost to more legal wrangling, we support the victims of violence in NI in their quest for a workable approach to reconciliation and justice."
Additional reporting: Edmund Heaphy, Joan O'Sullivan, Sean Whelan
