HIA: Abuse survivor calls for 'living memorial' to victims

Victims of historical child abuse are to begin receiving compensation in the spring

A bursary scheme for young people would be a more fitting tribute to victims of institutional abuse than a statue or sculpture, a campaigner has said.

A memorial to victims and survivors was one of the recommendations of the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) Inquiry.

It has been revealed that the first compensation payments to victims are expected to be made this spring.

The head of the civil service announced the timeframe at Stormont on Wednesday.

• MPs pass long-awaited abuse compensation bill

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• Homes and institutions investigated by HIA

Jon McCourt, from the campaign group Survivors North West, said there was "a fairly broad scope of how people would want to see this memorialised."

"My personal choice would be a living memorial, a bursary - particularly in the field of sociology, social services, or whatever - so young people would have the opportunity to look at the lessons that hopefully have been learned through this inquiry and through this process and see them applied in the future," he said.

"A living memorial would be a lot more valuable to people than a statue in Stormont or a statue in the grounds of Stormont."

Compensation of victims was another key recommendation of the inquiry and legislation on this was passed in November 2019.

Jon McCourt said a bursary scheme for young people would be a lot more valuable to people than a statue

Mr McCourt said he hoped there would be no further delays as some victims and survivors had been waiting for 50 or 60 years for compensation.

"What we don't want to see in this is any sort of mission creep at all," he said

"This is has been too long to get to this point - there is no patience and certainly no will among victims and survivors to see this drawn out any further."

He said survivors were in discussions with the Executive Office over the application forms for compensation.

"What we don't want is 25-page forms in civil service speak," he said.

The HIA inquiry examined allegations of physical, emotional and sexual abuse of children in residential institutions in Northern Ireland between 1922 and 1995.

Chaired by the late Sir Anthony Hart, it investigated institutions run by religious, charitable and state organisations.

The HIA inquiry was chaired by the late Sir Anthony Hart

The inquiry heard its first public evidence in 2014 and delivered its final report in January 2017.

Sir Anthony recommended that all victims should receive tax free, lump sum payments ranging from £7,500 to £100,000 from a government-funded redress scheme.

However, the legislation stalled after the collapse of Stormont in January 2017.

In November 2019, Appeal Court judges ruled that Stormont's Executive Office had the power to compensate survivors in Northern Ireland.

The following day, long-awaited legislation that will provide compensation for survivors was fast-tracked through Westminster, before Parliament was dissolved for the general election.