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Report finds Troubles victims were inadequately compensated for the death of their loved one

A new report from Queen’s has found that most victims of the Troubles were inadequately compensated for the death of their loved one, with some receiving as little as £43 to bury a murdered family member.

Harland and Wolff

The research report, which was led by Professor Luke Moffett from the School of Law and Dr Kevin Hearty from the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work at Queen’s, was based on an archival review of compensation payments during the height of the Troubles focusing on the period 1966-1976.  

Other key findings from the report include:  

  • Compensation during the height of the Troubles was unequal and inadequate. Despite tens of millions given to victims, on average less than £7,000 was awarded, with 60 per cent of families receiving less than £5,000. 
  • Women were routinely discriminated against and devalued.  
  • There were vast discrepancies in payments to victims killed in the same incidents even in the same family, which diminished the loss next of kin felt and reinforced a hierarchy of victims. 
  • The scheme failed to provide redress for suffering, awarding only loss of income or funeral costs. 
  • Widow(er)s of those who died in the security forces were often poorly compensated. 
  • Compensation was used in several killings by the security forces to settle with victims and avoid cases going before the European Court of Human Rights. 

Based on the findings, the researchers have proposed a bereaved payment scheme, to complement the current one for seriously injured victims of the Troubles through the Victims Payment Board.  

Speaking about the report findings and recommendations Professor Moffett said: “Compensation for those killed during the Troubles was not fit for purpose. It belittled the loss and suffering of many victims, rubbing salt into the wounds of grieving families. Many families were paid a pittance for the death of their loved. One mother received £112 after the murder of her two adult sons, a widower whose wife and mother of six was shot dead outside their home was awarded £84, and a father received £43 for his daughter killed in a bomb.  

“Women, children, elderly, and cohabitees were failed by a system that only created a financial hierarchy of victims. With the Legacy Bill becoming law last week, victims’ legal avenues to seek redress through the courts have now been terminated. Over fifty years on from the start of the Troubles we need a bereavement payment scheme to properly acknowledge and redress the suffering experienced by bereaved victims.” 

Dr Hearty added: “Any objective analysis of the cases contained within the report will reach the inescapable conclusion that the compensation scheme failed to provide acknowledgment to victims and to mitigate against material harms following bereavement. Instead, the picture that emerges is of a system intent on shortchanging victims, testing their resolve for prolonged legal action, and closing off avenues for legal accountability.  

“When courts determine that greyhound owners should be compensated twice as much as families bereaved through the conflict, the lack of compassion and dignity within the statutory system becomes abundantly clear.” 

Speaking of the report, Victims’ Commissioner, Ian Jeffers said: “This report highlights some key issues that really need to be addressed in terms of how we have – or more to the point, have not – looked after bereaved victims of the Troubles. It’s an area that my office is looking at very closely at the moment and we welcome this research carried out by Professor Moffett and Dr Hearty. We will be considering some of these recommendations they have made as we prepare our own advice to government in the months ahead.” 

This is the final report of the AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) funded project ‘Reparations, Responsibility and Victimhood in Transitional Societies.’ The full report is available here: https://reparations.qub.ac.uk/new-report-reparations-for-those-bereaved-during-the-troubles/  

Media

Media enquiries to Zara McBrearty at Queen’s Communications Office on email: z.mcbrearty@qub.ac.uk  

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