Troubles legacy body opens four new cases

Sir Declan Morgan is the Chief Commissioner of the ICRIR

The body responsible for investigating troubles-related killings has accepted four new cases.

The Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) now has 14 live investigations.

The commission said it was working with 100 people to progress their cases.

The first cases were announced in September, including an investigation into the Guildford pub bombings in 1974.

The new investigations include:

• The shooting of Alexander Millar at Ardoyne Bus Station in north Belfast on 2 May 1975.

• A investigation into the shooting of James Oliver (Seamus) Bradley in the Creggan area of Londonderry on 31 July 1972.

• An investigation into the killing of James and Ellen Sefton after a bomb was placed beneath their car on the Ballygomartin Road in Belfast on 6 June 1990.

• The shooting of Thomas Sheppard in Ballymena on 21 March 1996.

What is the ICRIR?

The ICRIR has powers to look into more than 3,500 killings and serious incidents which left up to 40,000 people injured.

It can accept requests for the next five years.

There are 1,300 unsolved murders relating to the troubles, and victims groups say this number dwarfs those being investigated by the ICRIR.

Many victims called for the commission to be scrapped following a court ruling which found the government had too much veto power over what material investigators could release.

In September, those calls were rejected by the Secretary of State, Hilary Benn.

However, he promised to repeal many other elements of the controversial legacy legislation introduced by the Conservative government.

Defending the government’s decision to retain the ICRIR, Benn said it could not ditch the Troubles legacy legislation and then leave a "vacuum".