Dame Siobhan Keegan concerned legacy issue will 'infect' Northern Ireland for years to come

Northern Ireland's chief justice says she's worried that legacy will continue to "infect" society here for years to come.

Dame Siobhan Keegan, who presided over and delivered the verdicts in the inquests into the Ballymurphy massacre, was speaking in a wide-ranging interview with UTV.

She says we all need to be "receptive" to new ways of dealing with the past, including a truth recovery body or information retrieval scheme.

"We need to think about how we deal with everyone's issues," says Dame Siobhan Keegan.

"I think it would be difficult as a society if we are still grappling with this in another 50 years and that's not just for law that's for everyone so the law has a part to play and the courts of deal with the cases that are referred to the courts or are brought by people who want some resolution.

"But I just think there are wider questions that need to be answered that are beyond my remit.

"And I worry that this issue infects our society for very many years to come if we don't get it right.

"We need to think about reconciliation, define that properly, think about what society wants and whether society is ready for more steps to be taken in that area."

It comes as the Government's controversial legacy bill moves through the House of Commons.

The bill proposes to offer immunity from prosecution for Troubles-era offences for anyone who co-operates with a new "information-recovery" body.

All of Northern Ireland's political parties have objected to the government's legacy legislation arguing that it offers an effective amnesty to army veterans and paramilitaries.

''I think those things have been referred to before in the political arena," continued Dame Siobhan Keegan.

"I'm not sure it's quite my role to say where they fit in.

"I deal with the legal system, but certainly they were seen to be a very important complement and part of various different discussions in years past because of the, as I say, very many people affected by the Troubles, not just the people who come to our courts, which are a small cohort, but there are very many families from both sides of the community who have been affected and who still have issues that they would like dealt with in some way or other.

"So, I mean, I think we have to all be receptive to that as people who live here to make it a better place."

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