00:00The troubles in Northern Ireland between 1969 and 1998 claimed over 3,500 lives.
00:08Many of the killings on both sides of the Catholic-Protestant divide remain unsolved,
00:13leaving many families looking for truth and justice.
00:16Pat Malloy attends the Wave Trauma Centre in Belfast.
00:20His Irish-Catholic son, John, was murdered by a British Protestant mob in 1996.
00:26To this day, the known killers have not been brought to justice
00:29amidst claims of collusion with the British security services.
00:33He says the legacy act was like being attacked by the British state all over again.
00:38That was a real kick up the backside for us.
00:42Whoever brought that in, let him walk in my shoes and let him know what I'm going through
00:48because of the murder of my son and not getting any information from him
00:52and then telling me that the people who killed my son were going to walk away free.
00:57The new Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Hilary Benn, has pledged to repeal and replace the legacy act.
01:04Politicians on the Irish nationalist side of the divide say they will do everything they can
01:09to ensure that the British government sticks to its promise to abolish the act.
01:14It's completely critical that they repeal, replace and frankly do away with this abhorrent legacy act.
01:23It was one of the worst things the previous Tory government did.
01:26It was designed to insulate British soldiers from accountability.
01:30The Irish government has already begun interstate legal proceedings against the British to abolish the act.
01:36With the Irish Taoiseach meeting the new British Prime Minister in London next week,
01:40hopes are high that a legal contest with the British will now be no longer necessary.
01:45The Irish take the view that abolishing the act is crucial for the dignity of victims.
01:50I think the Labour government now has a big majority in the House of Commons.
01:53This is about victims and their needs and I think that's foremost in our minds in all of this process
02:00and I think it will be now foremost in the minds of the British government.
02:04The British government has indicated that it intends to abolish the controversial legacy act.
02:09In doing so, it has raised the hopes and expectations of many, many families here in Northern Ireland
02:14that someday soon they will get answers to questions about the controversial killings of their loved ones
02:19in controversial circumstances.
02:21Only time will tell if the British will live up to their word.
02:25This is Ken Murray for Euronews in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
