SINN FEIN president Mary-Lou McDonald said on Thursday she had written to United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Irish premier Leo Varadkar asking for an urgent summit over legacy issues.

Ms McDonald also called on the British government to halt the controversial Legacy Bill currently making its way through Parliament.

The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill is opposed by all Stormont’s main parties and the Irish government, as well as victims’ groups in the region, which have denounced it as an “amnesty” for killers.

The Sinn Fein leader said: “There are widespread concerns and opposition to British government legacy plans currently being pushed through Westminster.

“These very real concerns are shared by victims and families, human rights experts, churches, the UN, and senior officials in the EU and US administration and all the political parties on this island.

“The proposed legislation will shut the door on families’ efforts to achieve truth and justice through the courts and give an amnesty to British state forces who killed Irish citizens.”

She said a joint summit would be an opportunity to work together to deliver an agreed way forward for victims.

“That is the best way to understand the views of all victims and families, to ensure their legal right to truth and justice is upheld and help the process of healing and reconciliation,” she said.

“To create space for that dialogue to take place, I have urged the British government to stop the passage of its unacceptable legacy legislation and convene the summit urgently.”

Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin said the onus was on Sinn Fein as well as the Irish and British governments to reflect on how victims of Northern Ireland’s troubled past have been treated.

Speaking after participating in the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference in Dublin along with Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris, the Tanaiste said the Irish government had concerns over the Legacy Bill. 

But Mr Martin also urged Ms McDonald and her party to reflect on their treatment of victims of terrorism, referencing Sinn Fein’s links with the Provisional IRA during the Troubles.

“I have no objection to people saying we should do this and that but I also think people should reflect on their own position, in respect of how they are honouring the victims of the past, and how they’re dealing with the victims of the past and dealing with legacy issues.”