{"id":789,"date":"2012-06-08T13:52:47","date_gmt":"2012-06-08T12:52:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=789"},"modified":"2012-06-08T16:37:19","modified_gmt":"2012-06-08T15:37:19","slug":"who-categorises-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=789","title":{"rendered":"Who Categorises Victims?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who Categorises Victims?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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This week saw the cynical leaking of Evelyn Glenholmes\u2019 name as one of those who was invited to sit on the forthcoming Commission for Victims and Survivors.\u00a0 Out of a total of twenty five participants hers was the only name to be leaked and the reason for this action was borne out in the media in the days that followed\u2014achieving exactly the response it was intended to.\u00a0 Stephen Nolan dedicated a large chunk of his Wednesday night show to it and indeed carried the subject on to his radio show the following morning.\u00a0 On the television show Nolan\u2019s panellists or rather, guests were Brendan McAllister\u2014Victims Commissioner\u2014Alex Maskey\u2014Sinn Fein MLA, and Mike Nesbitt MLA\u2014Leader of the Ulster Unionist party and of course an ex Victims Commissioner. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u00a0The discussion that took place between the three and subsequently the audience input was predictably, predictable.\u00a0 Brendan explained that the term victim–in the context of the past conflict— is wide ranging and encompasses a large swathe of the community, including in many instances ex-prisoners and combatants from both the Nationalist and Loyalist camps.\u00a0 Mike Nesbitt took issue with this and refused to answer with a Yes or No when asked repeatedly by Nolan if he considered Glenholmes to be a victim.\u00a0 Nesbitt backtracked\u2014slightly\u2014by declaring that he personally didn\u2019t have a problem with either ex-prisoners or combatants being represented on the Forum but questioned the acceptance of Glenholmes because he felt that she was too high profile.\u00a0 What is astounding here\u2014and in the previous furore around the appointment of Mary McArdle as a Sinn Fein special advisor in Stormont last year\u2014is that the complainants do not have a problem sharing a platform\u2014or big salary\u2014with elected MLA\u2019s who are or were convicted murderers.\u00a0 It must be remembered at this point that not only was Glenholmes shot and wounded early in the conflict\u2014qualifying her as a victim\u2014but she was never convicted of an offence.\u00a0 Alex Maskey\u2019s input was along the usual Sinn Fein lines where, he declared that while there may well be some people on the Forum that he would personally prefer not to see there he would just have to go along with it.\u00a0 This position and stance may well change of course whenever the rest of the makeup of the Commission is made public.\u00a0 The participation of the audience on the Nolan show\u2014some invited\u2014was, again predictably divided on the subject.\u00a0 Perhaps one of the most compelling inputs was the caller whose Mother had been blown up and killed by a UVF bomber in the 1980\u2019s.\u00a0 The bomber was severely injured in the blast and was treated at the scene by the son who categorically declared that the assailant was a victim just like his mother.\u00a0 Much has been\u2014and much more will be\u2014written and spoke about on the sensitive subject in the days and months\u2014and years\u2014to come.\u00a0 It will be another rigorous test and high hurdle on the stony path to reconciliation but one that can surely be overcome.\u00a0 What we don\u2019t need along the way is people like Mike Nesbitt\u2014or Jim Allister\u2014or Willie Frazer\u2014or Sir Raymond McCord asserting who is or isn\u2019t a victim and in doing so creating their own league table of such\u2014with themselves at the summit of the Premier Division\u2014and many as equally deserving\u2014scrapping it out at the foot of the Conference.<\/p>\n

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