Amnesty International has warned that the opportunity to deal with the past in Northern Ireland must not be squandered following a lack of agreement at the end of multi-party negotiations, chaired by Dr Richard Haass. Northern Ireland’s five main political parties failed to agree to a new approach to dealing with the legacy of three decades of human rights violations and abuses, among other issues. Amnesty is calling for the publication of draft proposals from the inter-party talks and for negotiations to recommence in the New Year. The human rights group’s Northern Ireland Director Patrick Corrigan said: “We are disappointed the parties failed to reach an agreement on dealing with the past, but determined to continue to press for truth and justice for all victims in Northern Ireland. “What progress has been achieved by the parties and the Haass team towards agreeing a new approach to the past must not be squandered or obscured by disagreement on other issues.