A report for the Commission for Victims and Survivors for Northern Ireland (CVSNI) found that ‘twenty five years after the Good Friday [Belfast] Agreement, we still see scars of conflict both in those that experienced it and in intergenerational trauma passed on to children and young people in the most affected communities’. The report, entitled Conflict, Trauma and Mental Health: How psychological services in Northern Ireland address the needs of victims and survivors, highlighted that more psychological services are needed for victims and survivors of the Troubles. It included a series of reviews and studies and was commissioned by the CVSNI, funded through the EU's Peace IV programme.

School of SSESW academic Michael Duffy was principal investigator for the project team which produced the report. It reviewed psychological services for victims of the Troubles and offers ‘proposals on the optimal way to organise mental health services for victims and survivors in the primary, community and statutory systems’.

Michael said: ‘The studies analysed outcome data relating to mental health needs of victims and survivors of the Troubles from services across health and social care trusts and the community and voluntary sector in Northern Ireland, and the border regions in the Republic of Ireland in order to make recommendations for future service provision.’

At a recent launch of the report, key findings were outlined by Michael Duffy, with Queen’s University colleagues Anne Campbell, Tracey McConnell and Carolyn Blair, John O’Hanlon from the Belfast Health and Care Trust, and Brian Fitzmaurice from Trinity College, Dublin. See Conflict, Trauma and Mental Health for the full report and recommendations.