‘It’s soul destroying to find out nothing has been done’
VICTIMS of terrorism have spoken of their anger and hurt at news that the pension is unlikely to open for applications as scheduled.
Among those who have been at the front of the campaign for the past 10 years is Jennifer Mcnern.
She lost both legs in an IRA bomb attack on the Abercorn Restaurant in Belfast 48 years ago.
She said: “I am shocked, angry, devastated — a whole roller-coaster of emotions that
I shouldn’t have to be going through because this was supposed to have been sorted.
“Now we find out not only is it not sorted, the Executive hasn’t even started the process.
“Finding out nothing has been done at all — that is the thing that is so soul destroying.
“It is like they just don’t care, this is a campaign for people most seriously injured in the conflict but they don’t care.”
Ms Mcnern said many victims felt let down.
She added: “I have been living with what happened to me for nearly 50 years and I have been telling my story for the past 10 years trying to get the powers-that-be to understand why we deserve this pension.
“This was accepted in Westminster and we thought ‘great’, it has been worth it, but now, days before the application process was supposed to open, it turns out there is no structure in place at all.
“This pension is an acknowledgment of what we suffered in the conflict through no fault of our own and it should have been put in place years ago, but it is in law and it has to happen.”
Mark Kelly, who as a teenager suffered horrific injuries in a UVF no-warning bomb in 1972, also spoke of his anger and upset. He said politicians needed to be more mindful of victims.
“It is horrible what we are experiencing,” Mr Kelly said.
“I suppose long periods of hospitalisation post-injury may have prepared me in some way to accept taking life a day at a time, but I find it hard to take this.
“This was way too important, it should have been good news for a very small but badly affected portion of our population and at our time of life it would have made a huge difference.
“It could have impacted on how we saw ourselves and how we could hold our heads high, knowing that we had some degree of financial security.
“I think the politicians have failed to realise the impact of their actions.”