Progress with Redress in Northern Ireland
Frank and Judith Marshall joined Philippa White at Tuart Place on 17 February for a Skype meeting with Brendan McAllister, Interim Advocate for Victims/Survivors of Historical Institutional Abuse in Northern Ireland, and his colleague Claire Campbell. The meeting provided a chance to talk with Brendan about the progress of NI’s redress scheme, particularly as it will affect former child migrants living in Australia. Frank and Judith, respectively Vice-President and Secretary of the Tardun old Boys Association Inc, raised questions on behalf of their members, and voiced concerns about the lengthy delays in establishing a redress scheme in Northern Ireland, pointing out that many people have died waiting for justice. Brendan acknowledged the delays and said he expected that the Redress Board would be open for applications in March, with the first payments expected to be issued in May/June 2020. This is welcome news indeed. We were also pleased to learn that the Redress
Judith & Frank Marshall joined Pip at Tuart Place for a Skype meeting with Northern Ireland
News from Northern Ireland
HIA Interim Advocate Brendan McAllister Board who will deal with the applications will have access to the records from the HIAI Statutory Inquiry. This includes evidence from former child migrants who gave evidence to the Inquiry when it visited Australia in 2013/14. Brendan also confirmed that the spouse or children of eligible survivors who died on or after 28 April 1953 will be able to claim under the scheme. During the course of our meeting, Brendan outlined eight key areas of need he had found among NI survivors of historic institutional abuse: Welfare needs, Health – mental and physical, Social support and connection, Documents and family tracing, Accountability of institutions, Restitution, Acknowledgement and apology, and Reconciliation. These eight areas sound very familiar to us, and perhaps they are universal. We look forward to further conversations with Brendan and his colleagues as the scheme develops. If you would like to receive the HIA Interim Advocate’s newsletter by email, contact info@hiaadvocate.org.uk
Boundaries workshop by Roslyn H. I have been coming to Tuart Place for a few years now. I think of it as a safe harbour from a sometimes mentally stormy world. The staff are very nice and respect everyone’s personal space. Whether you feel like chatting or not, they are always welcoming. I always feel so comfortable when I walk through the doors because I can just be me. On Wednesdays, Susy Vaughan runs a group session from 10:30 to noon. If you don’t feel like talking you simply say ‘pass’, and it moves onto the next person. There is no pressure to talk - the choice is all mine and everyone understands. At Susy’s group on 29 January 2020 we talked about personal boundaries, which was very helpful to me on many different levels.
Roslyn (centre) with fellow participants We learned how negative childhood experiences can affect personal boundaries, and about respecting others’ boundaries, as well as our own. Thank you, Susy, for such an amazing session and I look forward to future topics.
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