Michelle O’Neill ‘wants access to truth and justice for all bereaved families’

Northern Ireland’s First Minister has stressed she wants to spot entree to information and justness for each those bereaved during the region’s troubled past.

Michelle O’Neill was challenged successful the Stormont Assembly by a DUP MLA implicit what helium termed a “perceived hierarchy of victims”.

The speech came arsenic Ms O’Neill revealed that the contention process to enlistee the adjacent Commissioner for Victims and Survivors is to commencement this autumn.

Former commissioner Ian Jeffers stepped down astatine the commencement of January aft astir 2 years successful the role.

The office’s responsibilities see ensuring that services for victims of Northern Ireland’s Troubles are acceptable for purpose.

The assignment process comes arsenic victims’ families legally challenged the mounting up of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), portion of the erstwhile government’s arguable Legacy Act for dealing with the past.

The Act halted moving bequest inquests with the ICRIR to go the main conveyance for looking into cases from the past.

The Government past week refused respective recommendations for nationalist inquiries into immoderate high-profile Troubles deaths.

A nationalist enquiry was granted into the sidesplitting of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane successful 1989.

Secretary of State Hilary Benn said past week that the Finucane lawsuit was “exceptional” due to the fact that the UK had committed to holding a nationalist enquiry into the circumstances of the execution arsenic portion of an planetary statement with the Irish authorities much than 20 years ago.

Ms O’Neill said the assignment of the adjacent commissioner is “essential to pass the improvement of policies and to assistance guarantee the longer word needs of victims and survivors are represented by a beardown autarkic voice”.

“We’re keen that a caller commissioner is appointed arsenic soon arsenic possible, and arsenic specified we’re pleased to pass the enclosure that we’ve instructed our officials successful the Executive Office to formally proceed with the assignment process,” she told MLAs.

“Officials are present astatine an precocious signifier with the preparations required for the recruitment contention and we expect that it volition beryllium formally launched successful the autumn.

“It is estimated that the process whitethorn instrumentality a fig of months.”

DUP MLA Stephen Dunne pressed Ms O’Neill to hold that each victims should beryllium treated arsenic and would beryllium entitled to the aforesaid entree of justice, and determination should not beryllium a “hierarchy of victims that galore consciousness has been undertaken successful caller weeks”.

Ms O’Neill responded: “I deliberation it’s important that we enactment each families to get entree to information and justice.

“We tin spot from the tribunal ruling connected Friday that the volition of this Labour Government to spell down the way of the ICRIR does not commend enactment from some the victims and subsister community, quality rights organisations and present the courts person besides recovered it to beryllium fundamentally flawed.

“What we request to bash is find a mode for each families to get entree to information and justice. What we request to bash is find a mode to assistance radical to heal, and that is antithetic for each antithetic families. We had that erstwhile with the Stormont House Agreement, we request to get backmost to that constituent again.”

Ms O’Neill commended the Finucane household for securing a nationalist enquiry into the lawsuit aft campaigning for much than 3 decades.

“They were owed that nationalist inquiry. They person been fto down astatine each crook by successive British governments and I commend Geraldine Finucane for her bravery and her courageousness to support going for each of these years, and what I privation for the Finucane family, I privation for each family,” she added.