Abuse victims’ campaigner Jon McCourt says he feels a tremendous sense of pride and honour at his nomination for the freedom of his native Derry.
However, Mr McCourt (70) said he looked on the award as recognition of the campaign on behalf of victims of church and state institutions and of those who suffered.
Mr McCourt, who spent his childhood at the St Joseph’s boys’ home at Termonbacca in Derry, founded the Survivors North West group to campaign for victims of historical institutional abuse.
Mr McCourt spent more than 20 years campaigning for a full investigation into allegations of abuse at church and state institutions. The campaign culminated in the establishment of Hart Inquiry which found that there had been “shocking levels” of abuse in church and state institutions.
A former teenage IRA member in the 1970s, Mr McCourt spent the greater part of his life working for peace and reconciliation. He worked as a volunteer with the Peace and Reconciliation Group before becoming chairman of the organisation.
He was proposed for the Freedom of the City and Borough by People Before Profit councillor, Shaun Harkin. The proposal, which was ratified by Derry and Strabane council on Wednesday, came shortly after Mr McCourt turned down an MBE in the King’s birthday honours.
As the recipient of the Freedom of Derry award, Mr McCourt will join other famous people from the city, including Nobel laureate John Hume, Derry Girls’ writer Lisa McGee, musician and composer Phil Coulter and former Derry City football manager Jim McLaughlin among others.
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Mr McCourt said news of the honour came as an absolute “shock” to him. However, he said he considered the award as an honour for victims as much as for himself.
“It is about honouring all of the victims and survivors of historical institutional abuse as well as those like Peggy Gibson, Bernard Kerr, Des McDaid and many others who were stolen as children and shipped to Australian under the Child Migrant Act,” Mr McCourt said.
However, he admitted that he felt “a degree of personal pride” that his home city was honouring him in such a way.
The award will be bestowed on Mr McCourt later this year.
