Harris says the €25m over three years is envisioned as a fund to assist families in accessing the various structures which are to be put in place, such as legal representation.

When asked about the inter-state case, he says "we never wanted to be in a position where we had to take our nearest neighbour to an international court, we only did so because we had exhausted every other means".

He adds that when the framework is passed into legislation, the interstate case will be dropped.

The news conference is over but we'll continue to catch you up on some of the outstanding lines from it.

Stay with us.

Simon Harris is asked whether this is the "last roll of the dice" for the Irish government to deal with Northern Ireland's past.

He's also asked what he makes of a "unionist view" that the Irish government should not have a joint role.

"Today is a joint framework. I said to one politician yesterday: 'The easiest thing to do for an Irish politician is to stand up in the Dáil (Irish parliament) and say the British government must do more," Harris replies.

"It's not the right thing. The right thing as co-guarantors is to come together to work together."

He adds that he believes this is genuinely the best opportunity to tackle the issues surrounding the Troubles.

Answering questions from the press, Benn says "criticism is easy, legacy is hard".

Benn says time is not on the side of many victims families, some of whom are in their 80s and 90s.

"They may never get the answers that they have been searching for."

"That is why now is the right time," he adds.

The NI secretary Hilary Benn and Tánaiste (Irish deputy PM) Simon Harris are taking questions from gathered press on the new deal.

Harris says once the legislation is in place, the Irish government will "make ring-fenced funding of €25m available to support the participation and representation of victims, survivors and next of kin in legacy processes in Northern Ireland".

He says he will work closely with Northern Ireland's Justice Minister Naomi Long to put those arrangements in place.

Harris says the new joint framework represents a "root and branch" reform of the previous Legacy Act.

He says the 2023 Act was "unilaterally conceived, drafted, and implemented".

It was opposed by all parties in Northern Ireland and has been found to be in breach of the ECHR," he adds.

He says "my goal and Hilary's is to move forward" and "returns us to the principles of the Stormont House Agreement".

"Once faithfully legislated for and implemented, it will fundamentally reform legacy processes, bodies, and outcomes."

He adds: "It is a night and day improvement on the 2023 Act."

Harris says he met many families from "every community and background" and that they all "seek the same thing... truth, accountability, and justice".

He adds that sometimes families had "different views on what that looks like".

But goes on to say they have "been united in the view that leaving the legacy of the Troubles unresolved is holding back the essential task of reconciliation" and would allow "trauma to pass down the generations".

Image source, Reuters

The Tánaiste (Irish deputy PM) says getting to this point on legacy and a joint framework has "been a journey".

Speaking at Hillsborough Castle Simon Harris says the agreement has taken time due to the issues being "incredibly difficult" and "deeply painful for many people and it can be deeply divisive".

He says the agreement between the UK and Ireland within its relations means "jointly stepping up to the plate".

He states this is "no definitive solution that will meet all the demands and needs of every individual affected" but it is "a comprehensive set of measures that both Governments can take to provide the maximum truth, justice and accountability to those who urgently need and deserve it".

Image source, Reuters

Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn says that following the agreement of this framework, both governments will bring forward legislation which will be "human rights compliant and will include a "significantly reformed legacy commission, including strengthening its investigative powers, independence and putting in place new governance and oversight arrangements".

He says the new framework will see the "removal of the previous government's immunity scheme", and "implement fair and transparent rules for disclosure".

He added that moving forward, those cases that were "halted by the legacy act and establishing a new process to decide how best to proceed with the rest".

Benn also added that he welcomes new commitments by the Irish government.

Image source, Reuters

Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn says thanks to the Irish and UK teams for the "constructive and collegiate spirit" in approaching discussions on legacy.

"We have now both an opportunity to try and deal with this and not put off difficult decisions for yet another generation."

He says this is to help families that have "been waiting for 30, 40 and 50 years".

Both governments say they have now reached an agreement on a new Northern Ireland Troubles legacy deal.

We'll bring you the details shortly. Watch live above as Tánaiste (Irish deputy prime minister) Simon Harris and Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn hold a news conference on the new framework.

The news conference at Hillsborough Castle has started.

We'll bring you all the key lines as they happen. You can follow along by pressing watch live at the top of the page.

Julian O'Neill
BBC News NI Home Affairs Correspondent

The UK government says the deal will involve a package of protections for veterans.

The Legacy Commission “will be under a statutory duty not to duplicate the work of any previous investigations unless there are compelling reasons to do so.”

There will also be what is described as “a protection in old age.”

The commission will “be under a statutory duty to take into account the health and wellbeing of potential witnesses at all times.”

Read more here.

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) East Londonderry MP Gregory Campbell says all the indications show that the new framework "is not going to satisfy what people want to see".

"People who are victims and survivors of the Troubles want to know is there the prospect of justice... not soldiers being pursued and terrorists not," he tells BBC News NI.

Campbell adds that if it doesn't offer closure to those relatives and survivors from "way back in the day", then it "won't fly" and will be "no better than what was before".

Margaret McGuiness' father, Peter was shot dead with a plastic bullet in 1981 by security forces during a riot near their home in Belfast.

She was 13 and her mum, who has since died, was then left with five children at 37 years old.

Margaret says she had to grow up very quickly.

"My mummy wasn't the same person after my daddy died. I was young. I suppose you grow up with it," she tells BBC News NI.

Margaret wants an independent investigation into her father's death.

"I just want to know what happened. I really don't want anybody to get convicted, I don't want that now. To me it's too late, but just tell the truth of what happened that night."

She feels wary regarding the new framework.

"Will we get our independent investigations? Will we be able to be told the truth? I don't think so. I hope I'm wrong."

Margaret says it will be impossible to please everybody.

"Both sides have suffered terribly. It's not just me, it's not just my friends, my family.

"We just want to be told the truth and for people to be left in peace," she adds.

Brendan Hughes
Political reporter, BBC News NI

Image source, Getty Images

Successive governments have spent decades grappling with how to handle the legacy of Northern Ireland's troubled past.

Those efforts have seemed to many to be at their best when ministers in London and Dublin have worked in tandem.

But relations between the UK and Irish administrations were severely weakened in the years of wrangling over Brexit.

And the previous Conservative government's decision to set its own course on handling legacy issues only served to strain that relationship further.

Since coming to power last year, Labour has sought to repair and reset communications with their government counterparts in the Irish Republic.

Today's announcement - jointly tackling one of the thorniest of policy areas for both governments - will in some ways demonstrate just how well diplomatic ties across the Irish Sea have been mended.

But while there may be unity on show this afternoon, remaining on the same page to sell this new framework in the months ahead may prove a harder challenge.

Julian O'Neill
Home affairs correspondent, BBC News NI

This "new framework", agreed between the British and Irish governments, seeks to heal a rift between London and Dublin created by the controversial Legacy Act.

It's being unveiled later - but what can we expect?

• Inquests which had commenced but not ended before the current Legacy Act came into force last year will be restored
• Others which had not begun will be reviewed to identify a way forward.
• The Legacy Commission, born out the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, will have independent oversight.
• It will have two new directors for investigations
• Investigations by the commission will explore and exhaust all investigative leads
• Independent judges will preside over the commission's "inquisitorial" public hearings
• A cross-border Independent Commission on Information Retrieval will be set-up
• There will be a dedicated legacy unit within the gardaí (Irish police)
• Ireland will bring forward legislation, where required, to facilitate full co-operation with the Legacy Commission, once its reform is enacted in UK law
• A ring-fenced €25m (about £21m) fund to support victim participation in legacy processes in Northern Ireland

Read more from Julian here.

Image source, PA Media

The ICRIR was established to investigate deaths during Northern Ireland's decades-long conflict known as the Troubles.

The body was set up under the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act.

But some victims' groups called for it to be scrapped, arguing it's not sufficiently independent.

The act's most controversial element - the offer of conditional immunity to suspects in exchange for co-operating with the ICRIR - was disapplied following legal action by bereaved families.

The Labour government plans to repeal the Legacy Act, but retain the ICRIR.

The ICRIR has said that as of July, 200 people had approached the commission to begin investigations.

About 30 cases so far have been listed on its website as moving to an "information recovery" phase.

Read more here.

Image source, Getty Images

The act was passed by the Conservative government in September 2023.

This was despite opposition from Labour, all Northern Ireland parties, several victims' groups and the Irish government.

It created a new legacy body, the ICRIR, to take over all Troubles-era cases from 1 May 2024, including those on the desk of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

The act shut down all historical inquests.

However, the act's most controversial element, the offer of conditional immunity to suspects, was disapplied following legal action by bereaved families.

The court ruled this part of the act was incompatible with human rights' legislation and the Windsor Framework.

Labour pledged to repeal the Legacy Act and replace it after winning the last election, including agreeing a way forward with Dublin.

The act included controversial measures, such as allowing the ICRIR to grant conditional amnesties in return for information, but this and other aspects of the act were later ruled unlawful.

Ireland launched an inter-state case against the UK at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

This is unlikely to be withdrawn until after the UK passes new legacy legislation, which will include the overhaul of the ICRIR.