2 The Report of the Consultative Group
on the Past in Northern Ireland
The consultation process
9. In September 2007, the Consultative Group invited
individuals and groups affected by the conflict, in Great Britain
and the Republic of Ireland as well as in Northern Ireland, to
share their views on:
- the legacy of the past 40 years;
- any lessons learned; and
- the steps that might be taken
to support Northern Ireland society in building a shared future
that is not overshadowed by the events of the past.
10. During the initial consultation phase, the Consultative
Group placed articles and adverts in newspapers, undertook radio
and television interviews, and sent letters directly to interested
groups, in order to publicise and explain the intention and scope
of the inquiry. Over the course of the consultation period, the
Group received 290 written submissions and 2,086 standardised
letters. Public meetings were held in Belfast, Omagh, Armagh,
Ballymena, Bangor, Enniskillen and Derry/Londonderry. The locations
were chosen to be geographically accessible for as many people
as possible, and approximately 500 people attended. Group members
and staff also attended seminars, workshops and conferences held
by independent organisations and groups where possible. Where
attendance was not possible, they received feedback on the issues
covered by these events. We note that no public meetings were
held in Great Britain, where the number of deaths resulting from
the Troubles, though proportionally small, was nevertheless significant,
and we feel it right to recognise that the number attending meetings
in Northern Ireland was not large.
11. The Consultative Group also met privately with
141 individuals and groups across Northern Ireland, the Republic
of Ireland and Great Britain.[4]
The Group commented that "[t]hese private meetings were a
crucial part of the Group's engagement, allowing it to hear from
those who were not comfortable engaging in more formal meetings".[5]
12. The report took account of existing work and
research undertaken into ways of dealing with the past by a large
range of individuals, groups, non-governmental organisations,
statutory bodies and Governments. The Consultative Group paid
particular respect to the work of Healing Through Remembering
(HTR), a cross-community project made up of individual members
from a range of political backgrounds. It also drew on the experience
of other post-conflict countries and Truth Commissions around
the world, and particularly on the experiences of those involved
in the implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
in South Africa.[6]
13. The Consultative Group adopted principles against
which its recommendations should be measured, with one key principle
identified as standing out in particular:
The past should be dealt with in a manner
which enables society to become more defined by its desire for
true and lasting reconciliation rather than by division and mistrust,
seeking to promote a shared and reconciled future for all.[7]
14. From this first premise, further principles followed:
- dealing with the past is a
process and not an event;
- sensitivity towards victims
and survivors is essential;
- recommendations should be human
rights-compliant;
- relationships matter and are
the foundation for reconciliation; and
- consensual agreement is the
ideal.
15. The Consultative Group reported on 28 January
2009, concluding:
The Group acknowledges that its recommendations
represent significant challenges for many within society. This
Report will generate further debate on how the past should be
dealt with and this will be an important part of taking forward
the recommendations.[8]
16. We welcome the work of the Consultative Group
on the Past and recognise the significant time, energy and careful
thought that all members of the Group put into compiling their
report. The Group consulted widely among communities in Northern
Ireland and produced a report which attempted to outline a way
forward for everyone. This enormously difficult task was bound
to provoke an emotional reaction from all areas of society affected
by the Troubles. The final report was the product of a broad consultative
exercise, conducted in good faith by the members of the Group.
Public reception
17. Initial public reaction to the report greatly
concentrated on the widely criticised "recognition payment".
The Consultative Group intended that a one-off payment of £12,000
be made to the nearest relative of each person who died in the
conflict as a form of recognition by the state that families on
all sides had suffered through bereavement. The families of republican
and loyalist paramilitaries as well as families of the security
forces and bystanders would all be included. This provoked anger
among some victim and survivor groups and politicians, who believed
that this proposal accorded moral equivalence to all those who
died. West Tyrone Voice commented:
No amount of spin or political argumentation
can change the fact that not one victim of terrorism chose to
become that, unlike the terrorists who took up arms against them.[9]
18. The launch of the report at the Europa Hotel
in Belfast was disrupted by angry confrontations between some
groups and individuals, and subsequent media coverage reflected
widespread criticism of this proposal. Gerry Kelly of Sinn Fein
described the recommendation as a "mistake".[10]
This view was reflected in several submissions that we received.[11]
19. On 25 February, the Secretary of State for Northern
Ireland, Rt Hon. Shaun Woodward MP played down the possibility
of the Government implementing the £12,000 payment scheme
as proposed by the Consultative Group. He told the BBC:
I have decided however we proceed on this Report,
and there are many things I would like to consider in it, I do
not think I will be proposing that this particular recommendation
is one we should go forward on. There isn't a consensus on it,
it is an interesting idea, but very clearly the time is not right
for a recognition payment.[12]
20. On 1 April, the Secretary of State told the
Committee:
The reason for deciding to move against that
one recommendation for a recognition payment was because it was
preventing any sensible discussion happening of the rest of the
Report, about which I think there is quite a lot of consensus.
The particular recommendation on recognition payments clearly
had some consensus in some quarters and, as they have described
it, it was not only to be found in one quarter but very, very
clearly many, many people found it unpalatable, disagreeable and
it was clearly getting in the way of sensible discussion[13]
21. On Wednesday 24 June, the Northern Ireland Office
(NIO) published its own consultation paper outlining the recommendations
of the Consultative Group on the Past in Northern Ireland and
inviting comments on them. The NIO document outlines each of the
recommendations individually and asks respondents whether they
agree with them, along with several more detailed follow-up questions.
This consultation closed on 2 October.
22. Having emphatically recommended that this recommendation
should not be adopted, we now concentrate on the rest of the Group's
report and its other recommendations. We therefore endorse
the Secretary of State's decision to set aside the recognition
payment proposed by the Consultative Group in order to facilitate
discussion of its wider recommendations.
23. Whether or not any or all of the 31 recommendations
are implemented, the report provides an opportunity for reflection
on the extent to which society as a whole in Northern Ireland
has progressed towards reconciliation, the degree and nature of
remaining tensions in Northern Ireland, and the work that remains
to be done. While we believe that the five-month gap between publication
of the Consultative Group's report and the Government's launch
of public consultation upon it was unnecessarily long, we hope
that the public will have put emotional responses to one aspect
of the Group's report to one side and engaged fully with the consultation
to establish where consensus lies in relation to the remaining
30 recommendations.
4 Including, in private, the Northern Ireland Affairs
Committee, at Stormont in October 2008. Back
5
The Report of the Consultative Group on the Past, January 2009
p 46 Back
6
Ibid pp 45 - 47 Back
7
Ibid p 23 Back
8
Ibid p 159 Back
9
Ev 51 Back
10
"NI Troubles payment is`mistake`" BBC News Online, 16
February 2009, news.bbc.co.uk Back
11
Ev 39, 40, 51 and 56 Back
12
"Woodward rules out Troubles Cash", BBC News Online,
25 February 2009, news.bbc.co.uk Back
13
Oral Evidence taken before the Committee on 1April 2009,HC 404-i,
Q 2 Back
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