Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
MARCH FOR JUSTICE
Institutional abuse survivors at Stormont to demand apology and compo
INSTITUTIONAL child abuse victims marched to Stormont yesterday to demand justice.
The group handed in letters to party leaders at Stormont Castle asking for the findings of the four-year inquiry into State and Church abuse to be addressed as a matter of urgency. Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’neill, UUP leader Robin Swann and Alliance MLA Chris Lyttle took time out from political talks to personally accept the letters. The Stormont impasse has meant the findings and recommendations of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry have still not been presented to the Assembly. Survivors & Victims of Institutional Abuse spokeswoman Margaret Mcguckin said: “Our hopes have been built up so many times and we feel let down. We were vindicated by the inquiry and then the government collapsed. “We want to say to politicians, ‘Let us have some form of a life’. We don’t know if we have tomorrow.” The report, which was published just days before Stormont collapsed in January, promised victims State-backed compensation payments of up to £100,000, an apology, counselling and a memorial. Victims and government bodies were advised in 2015 that the report would be recommending financial redress. However, the failure of the DUP and Sinn Fein to form an Executive has meant the findings have not been implemented. Amnesty International’s Patrick Corrigan said: “We are calling for this issue to be prioritised and be part of the agenda of the talks and for delivery to follow when devolution returns.”