Are you listening Mr Benn?
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Hilary Benn, began his Irish News article by stating that ‘addressing the suffering of victims and survivors of the Troubles was one of the aims of the Good Friday Agreement.’
Surely, what he meant to say was that ‘addressing the suffering... is one of the aims’ of the GFA?
Is there significance in this slip of the tongue? I hope not. But, as Mr. Benn knows well, in Northern Ireland, we must always be careful with our language.
My advice to him would be to keep it plain and simple. The plainer the better.
Hilary Benn, as many have already pointed out, is a good man. He possesses integrity and dedication in abundance, and I don’t think we could have a better Secretary of State.
But time is running out.
Time takes its toll on all of us—whether victim, perpetrator, or survivor. Those of us who lived through the Troubles know the trauma and pain, both during the conflict and in the years that followed. We live with its legacy, as do our children and grandchildren.
I completely agree with Mike Jennings' analysis, particularly where he states that he is ‘not opposed to Mr. Benn’s plans, nor does he question his integrity and good intentions in pursuing them.’
As Jennings rightly points out, Benn faces a Herculean task. His proposals, on their own, ‘cannot bring forth the justice and consolation so deeply wished for by victims and their families.’
As the Everly Brothers sang, ‘Wishing Won’t Make It So.’
If there was ever a time for decisive action to reinvigorate the truth recovery process, it is now.
Benn points out that one advantage of the commission is that ‘it can quickly get to work. It has a growing team of dedicated investigators, including the former senior investigator at Operation Kenova. The commission also has full police powers to help find answers without the long years of waiting often involved with public inquiries, which must establish staff, premises, and processes from scratch.’
This is true—and useful.
But it’s also true that the British and Irish governments could easily redouble their efforts by establishing a dedicated truth recovery process, one that could swiftly begin re-examining our past and fostering dialogue.
A good starting point would be the creation of an archive of the Troubles—a Memorial Archive.
In addition to preserving and remembering the past, the primary goal of the Archive would be to promote truth recovery and reconciliation, while also serving as a resource for a common history curriculum across schools, adult and community education, and providing an international research centre.
The security archive amassed by the Historic Enquiries Team (HET), set up by the PSNI to review Troubles-related murders, holds all available evidence on the 3,268 Troubles deaths currently under investigation.
In addition to police, army, and MI5 files, the HET has collated press cuttings, paramilitary claims, official investigation files, and over 3,000 books on the Troubles. This vast database contains material that, while not necessarily admissible as evidence in a court of law, may be the closest we can get to answering many of the lingering questions of the Troubles. It is the raw material of history.
In Germany, following reunification, Stasi records from the former East Germany were released. A process of selective publication was put in place, with amendments to protect individuals’ safety and their right to life under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Individuals were given the right to request records held about them, and a program of publishing material of general interest was initiated. A similar model could be applied here. This Memorial Archive would need safeguards, including an independent body to sift and assess the material.
Spain is currently examining similar post-Franco measures.
A Memorial Archive could be funded by both the British and Irish governments, with the specific goal of fostering an all-Ireland Truth Recovery Process. Both governments could make a meaningful start without significant delay.
In 1972, John Hewitt wrote these words in his poem, Neither an Elegy Nor a Manifesto:
‘For the people of my province
‘and the rest of Ireland.’
‘Bear in mind these dead:
‘I can find no plainer words.’
Are you listening, Mr Benn?
Kathryn Johnston, Journalist and researcher
Victims really don’t want or need a Memorial archive or even see it as an issue at this time. It is for academics, universities, researchers and politicians who wish to rewrite history as they see it.
I do question Hilary Benn's integrity, and I’m not alone in that opinion. A politician who decides what disclosure is given to the families and courts is a politician who denies truth to the victims’ families.
I note with no surprise those contributors to the Truth Recovery Process who think Hilary Benn could be someone they would invite to dinner or lunch are not victims. We have often seen over the years of the Troubles that the narratives of academics/researchers has usually been, ‘don’t criticise those in power who hold the purse strings’.
My advice, without being arrogant, is to listen to the victims on how they want truth and justice delivered instead of relying on the state agencies or politicians who try to control the narrative. Hilary Benn has already made it clear that he believes he is the one who should decide what should be disclosed. As if we should be surprised that he is yet another politician who doesn’t really listen to the victims.
When have the politicians got it right on victims' issues?
Tony Blair secretly issued ‘Get out of Jail Free’ tickets when he was pandering to murderers, terrorists; to political parties and state agencies when he issued his undeclared ‘on the run letters’,. These amounted to secret amnesties.
The Conservatives followed up with even more coverups and breaches of human right laws with the Legacy Act and establishing the ICRIR.
I would humbly suggest that politicians, academics and would-be victims’ experts consider that Hilary Benn is repeating the history of previous Secretaries of State. He certainly isn’t listening to victims or their families. However, he isn’t on his own.
Raymond McCord father of Raymond McCord Jr murdered 9th November 1997 by UVF state agents in collusion with our police Special Branch.
