THE definition of a victim during the Troubles in Northern Ireland needs to be changed, former Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh Robin Eames has said.
Lord Eames, one of the authors of a key report on dealing with the past, said he believes the definition needs to take into account the "distinction between those who were engaged in lawful activity and those who were engaged in unlawful activity".
In an interview with the Church of Ireland Gazette, he said "despite the difficulties in drafting" the distinction should be made. The existing Victims and Survivors (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 defines a victim and survivor as someone injured as a result of "a conflict-related incident", someone who provides a substantial amount of care on a regular basis for such an individual, or someone bereaved as a result of such an incident. The long-running problem with the statutory definition has been the fact that it suggests a 'moral equivalence' between, for example, members of paramilitary organisations and police officers or soldiers, drawing no distinction between those who were engaged in what is viewed as lawful activity and those whose actions were unlawful. Lord Eames, who co-chaired the Consultative Group on the Past with Denis Bradley, said he believes the statutory definition of a victim during the Northern Ireland Troubles "needs to take account of the distinction between those who were engaged in lawful activity and those who were engaged in unlawful activity". He said he had "argued the point with politicians frequently" and had also discussed the issue with civil servants. Lord Eames also said he believed if an agreed way of dealing with the past in Northern Ireland could be reached, society could "move ahead with a new confidence" and "true sharing could begin to emerge". However, he warned that the development of such an agreed method would require "willingness to cooperate, a new honesty and a preliminary agreement on how parties and individuals could be persuaded to tell the truth".