The International Journal of Transitional Justice, Vol. 4, 2010, 26–46, doi: 10.1093/ijtj/ijp027 Advance Access publication: 8 January 2010 A Truth Commission for Northern Ireland? Aoife Duffy * Abstract 1 A report published by the Consultative Group on the Past (Consultative Group) in January 2009 recommended that a ‘Legacy Commission’ be established for Northern Ireland that would fulfil a reconciliation, truth-recovery and justice mandate. The work of the Consul- tative Group highlights how international justice norms are interpreted at a local level in a way that takes account of local histories and priorities. This article critically examines the proposed Legacy Commission and finds that the framework outlined by the Consulta- tive Group does not sufficiently challenge discourses of violence that hinder the bedding down of positive peace in Northern Ireland. Universal human rights and justice concepts remain peripheral to this framework, which avoids the type of profound conflict analysis that might advance societal stability and harmony. Instead of challenging the structural and institutional inequalities that underpinned the violence of the conflict in Northern Ireland and opening up new pathways to accessing truth and justice, the Consultative Group’s report advocates a truth-recovery process that is not open to public scrutiny and is couched in the language of forgetting, which begs the question whether this is a genuine attempt to explore sidelined or dissenting narratives of conflict, or merely another forum in which to contain them. Introduction Over 11 years have elapsed since the Belfast Agreement was signed in April 1998. This pivotal moment in Northern Ireland’s history marked the culmination of a complex peace process and brought an end to the 30-year political conflict that marred the region. As in other societies emerging from protracted social conflict, stakeholders in the Northern Ireland peace process had to deal with outstanding conflict issues, such as justice and accountability deficits. Metaconflict, or a failure of parties to the peace process to agree on the causes or nature of the conflict, was associated with this period of transition, and the Belfast Agreement critically omitted retrospective components, focusing instead on prospective provisions. 2 Nevertheless, the Belfast Agreement contended with several discrete and immediate ∗ Postgraduate research fellow, Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland, Galway, Republic of Ireland. Email: aoifeduffy@yahoo.com 1 Many thanks to the anonymous reviewers at the International Journal of Transitional Justice for their excellent comments and suggestions. All remaining errors are the author’s own. 2 For example, mainstreaming equality, incorporating the European Convention on Human Rights into domestic law and implementing institutional reform arose from provisions contained in the Belfast Agreement. C  The Author (2010). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org. at National University of Ireland, Galway on October 25, 2011 http://ijtj.oxfordjournals.org/ Downloaded from