The Five Demands

NI victims ‘forgotten’ by politicians (UTV)
The Victims’ Forum, which was set up two years ago to deal with the legacy of the Troubles, has held its last meeting.
The forum first met in September 2009 to help victims and included 30 people directly affected by the conflict, as well as nine members with expertise in areas such tackling mental illness.
A Victims’ Service is set to replace the Victims’ Forum, but it is not yet known what exactly the service will entail, and many members of the forum feel they have been forgotten.
Members of the security services sat round the table alongside victims and survivors of the Troubles, including Michael Grimes, who lost his wife Mary, his daughter Avril who was pregnant with twins and her infant daughter Maura, in the Omagh bombing.
Also on the panel was Alan Brecknell, whose father was murdered by a loyalist paramilitary gang, which included security force members, during a gun and bomb attack on a pub.
Alan McBride’s wife Sharon and father-in-law John Frizzell were killed during the Shankill bombing in October 1993.
He told UTV politicians are trying to “ignore” the Troubles.
“The past hasn’t gone away, and our politicians need to agree a process,” said Mr McBride.
“I would like to ask questions around what’s happened to other consultations that have taken place in the past, for example, the Eames Bradley report – where’s it?
“I get the feeling that it’s sitting gathering dust on a government shelf somewhere. I think that needs to be taken down, have another look at it and see what can really be put in place for victims and survivors.”
Victims’ Commissioner Brendan McAllister said the government needs to step up for those affected by the Troubles.
“This is what’s annoying people at the moment,” he said, “we have the memorial fund, waiting for the government to pay 1,000 victims, including 41 who are waiting for £20 a week to manage chronic pain.
“The Community Relations Council is waiting on confirmation so that they can fund the second part of the year for 49 groups. If that confirmation doesn’t come in the next two weeks then over 140 people will have to be put on protective notice.
“What we’re saying to the ministers is it’s time for them to intervene directly, to convene a change management panel, to agree across the sector, which can begin to communicate confidence on the ground.
“The government have great plans, but they’re not being communicated in a way that gives people confidence.”
In a joint statement, First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness “expressed their disappointment that Mr McAllister did not seek a meeting with them in relation to concerns over what he described as ‘pressure points’ in the victims sector, before going public on the issue”.
They said they “have always been happy to facilitate meetings with the Commission and they have extended an invitation to Mr McAllister and his fellow Commissioners to meet with them to discuss their issues of concern”.