NIO Public Consultation on Addressing the Legacy of Northern Ireland’s Past
Healing Through Remembering welcomed the announcement of the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) Public Consultation on Addressing the Legacy of Northern Ireland’s Past. This considered the draft legislation and other elements arising from the Stormont House Agreement (SHA).
The SHA outlines initiatives that were developed collectively by the Northern Ireland political parties to deal with the legacy of the conflict. The Consultation presented these initiatives in greater detail for wider society to consider before formal legislation would be passed on these issues. The Consultation was open from 11 May until 5pm on 5 October 2018 (extended from the original 10 September deadline).
It was important that this Consultation gathered the fullest possible range of views from the public.
Healing Through Remembering offered a versatile range of resources to facilitate public engagement with the Consultation, which can all be found on this page.
Documents
A simple aid booklet is available which places the Consultation questions alongside the relevant pages of the original HTR Resource that explains the detail of the SHA (scroll below for original resource). It offers a range of ‘points to consider’ in relation to each element of the SHA and Consultation question. There is also a more detailed aid which explains aspects of the proposed legislation, encouraging greater depth and expanding on the ‘points to consider’. Click on the images to the left to download these documents, or request hard copies of the simple aid booklet by email at admin@healingthroughremembering.org or by phone at 028 9023 8844. A slideshow of the simple aid is also available below.
Facilitators
HTR had a team of trained facilitators that are available to assist organisations or groups of people to discuss the issues involved and to make a response to the Consultation.
Events
There were also a number of HTR events to look at different aspects of the Consultation. Full details of all of these are available on the Events page.
As an organisation that has spent the last two decades vigorously examining the issues of dealing with the past in relation to our conflict, HTR encouraged everyone to take part in this Consultation. How we deal with the legacy of violent conflict concerns us all: this is about how we come to terms with the past, live together peacefully, and build a better future where all can flourish.
Response Document
HTR has also created a Response Document which was used as an alternative way to submit responses. This document provides a space to write in your response for each section of Consultation questions, for use by individuals or by groups to record and submit responses. It was also an option to garner organisational responses. Written responses were then posted directly to the NIO or sent via HTR at the addresses below.
Legacy Policy Team
Northern Ireland Office
Stormont House
Stormont Estate
Belfast
BT4 3SH
Northern Ireland Office
Stormont House
Stormont Estate
Belfast
BT4 3SH
Healing Through Remembering
Unit 2.2
28 Bedford Street
Belfast
BT2 7FE
Unit 2.2
28 Bedford Street
Belfast
BT2 7FE
Healing Through Remembering Response
The Board of Healing Through Remembering prepared a response to the NIO Consultation which can be downloaded by clicking on the image to the left.
The members of The Stories Network prepared a response to the NIO Consultation which can be downloaded by clicking on the image to the left.
NIO Consultation External Resources
In addition to the resources developed by HTR, we encouraged anyone interested in responding to the Consultation to review the documents provided by the NIO.
Further Support
Options for further support are highlighted in the Consultation documents: please refer to the Victims and Survivors Service (www.victimsservice.org) and Commission for Victims and Survivors (www.cvsni.org) for more information.
Stormont House Agreement
The Discussion Resource on the Legacy Elements of the Stormont House Agreement (SHA) is an informative booklet offering full summaries of each of the legacy proposals outlined within the SHA.
Recognising the current need for clearer information about the legacy mechanisms proposed within the SHA, this resource has been developed in order to inform public debate and enable a range of stakeholders to engage in discussions around the proposed mechanisms of the SHA. The resource:
- Summarises the content of the agreement;
- Offers questions that individuals and groups may wish to consider about proposed legacy mechanisms; and,
- References specific paragraphs in the SHA for each proposal, enabling users to easily locate the text as written within the agreement.
Since the resource is aimed at offering a clear summary of information for all stakeholders and interested parties, we invite groups and organisations to make use of it however they see fit.
The resource is available in hard copy from the Healing Through Remembering office in Belfast. Please email admin@healingthroughremembering.org or phone 028 9023 8844 for more information.
Click on the image to the right to access a PDF version of the resource, or scroll through the images below to view its content.
