What is behind the row between the British and Irish governments?

The Irish government has decided to sue the UK under the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights over a new law that attempts to draw a line under the Troubles. Ireland’s deputy prime minister, Micheal Martin, explained that the UK scheme is opposed by many who were affected by Northern Ireland’s deadly decades-long conflict, “especially the victims and families”.

The decision provoked a militant reaction from the British government. The secretary of state for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris, suggested hypocrisy on the part of Ireland: “The Irish government should urgently clarify the number of criminal prosecutions brought in Ireland since 1998 relating to Troubles cases,” he said, reiterating a common complaint within unionist quarters and among some Tories.

The issue has proved another irritant to UK-Irish relations, after a period in which they had been warming a little and progress had been made on the intractable problems created by Brexit, overlaid as they are on centuries of strife.