Dublin fails to implement Wilson report
BY MÍCHEÁL Mac DONNCHA
The report of the Victims Commission of former Tánaiste and Cavan TD John Wilson was raised in the Dáil last week by Cavan/Monaghan TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin. He was critical of the government's failure thus far to implement most of the recommendations of the Wilson report.
The Sinn Féin TD secured special Dáil time to raise the issue with the government, which was represented in the chamber by Minister of State for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Mary Wallace. The Sinn Féin TD said:
``In July 1999, the Victims Commission, under former Tánaiste John Wilson, issued its report entitled, A Place and a Name. The commission was established in compliance with the section of the Good Friday Agreement entitled, Rights, Safeguards and Equality of Opportunity. The commission received submissions from many people affected directly and indirectly by the past 30 years of conflict. I accompanied a number of people who had suffered bereavement and displacement to meet the commission. Some were victims of British state violence while others were victims of loyalist violence. To them, and many others in this jurisdiction, the commission was a long overdue opportunity to tell their story and present their case.''
Ó Caoláin pointed out that an inquiry by a senior judge into the Dublin/Monaghan bombings and the killing of Séamus Ludlow had been initiated as recommended by the Commission. The Justice for the Forgotten group, which represents the Dublin and Monaghan bombing victims, continues to call for a full public inquiry, a call echoed by Ó Caoláin.
He went on to list the report's recommendations where there is no evidence of government action. These included the establishment of trauma teams in health board areas and outreach programmes for past victims of the conflict; funds to be made available to provide acknowledgment payments for the families of those killed and to cover victims' continuing costs arising from injuries done to them; a victim's pension to be established for certain categories of victims; a review of the criminal injuries compensation scheme; and procedures to be introduced to allow families to request reports on investigations into deaths arising from the conflict where no one has been made amenable.
Ó Caoláin said:
``There was no action on the publication of the Crowley report on the shooting dead of Aidan McAnespie by the British Army on the Monaghan-Tyrone border in 1988. There was no action in regard to the government urging the British government to publish the Stalker-Sampson report on RUC shoot-to-kill policy and the Stevens report into collusion between the RUC and loyalists. There was no action on payments of up to £10,000 for bereaved families or injured persons who have had to move to this jurisdiction as a result of the conflict and can show economic need. There was no action on a relocation grant of up to £5,000 to assist those bereaved and injured who now wish to return to this jurisdiction.
``This is an appalling record on the part of the government. It is doubly damning when one takes into account the fact that the Victims Commission in the Six Counties was established earlier, reported earlier and many of its recommendations have already been implemented. When the Victims Commission report of John Wilson was published in July 1999, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform promised a three-month period of consideration of, and consultation on, the report. This was to be followed by action on implementation within a further three months. That brought us to February 2000. Over a year later, we have no evidence that anything has been done.''
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