'˜We will hold review after finding IRA bomber on the victims' forum'

The victims' commissioner is to review the future appointment process for the NI Victims & Survivors Forum after it emerged that one of its members is a former IRA bomber.
Victims Commissioner Judith Thompson said that she would review appointment processes to the Victims & Survivors Forum after a member was found to be an IRA bomberVictims Commissioner Judith Thompson said that she would review appointment processes to the Victims & Survivors Forum after a member was found to be an IRA bomber
Victims Commissioner Judith Thompson said that she would review appointment processes to the Victims & Survivors Forum after a member was found to be an IRA bomber

Judith Thompson made the commitment in correspondence with TUV leader Jim Allister following the controversy over Robert McClenaghan, an ex-IRA man.

McClenaghan, 60, was appointed to the forum because his grandfather Philip Garry was killed in the UVF McGurk’s Bar bombing in 1971. However, he did not disclose that he had served 12 years for IRA bombing offences.

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TUV leader Jim Allister quizzed Mrs Thompson over the case, claiming that appointees can join the forum “while concealing terrorist convictions”.

In a reply to Mr Allister, Mrs Thompson said she would review the process: “We routinely review the work of the Victims and Survivors Forum and will revisit the appointment process before any future replenishment exercise.”

The News Letter revealed details of the case in March as 79-year-old Jackie Nichol quit the victims and survivors body after he discovered Mr McClenaghan’s background. Mr Nichol’s 17-month-old son Colin was killed by an IRA bomb in 1971.

Mr Nichol, who had become friendly with McClenaghan, resigned after learning how in a 2011 documentary he said he had been “immensely proud” to join the IRA and that his “daily job” had been to lay bombs in Belfast.

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Ms Thompson told Mr Nichol members are “not required to disclose any personal information in addition to that requested in the initial Expression of Interest” and that members are “not subject to security background checks”.

She became aware that Mr McClenaghan was an IRA bomber in September last year, six months before Mr Nichol realised.

However she confirms she “did not pursue the matter with Mr McClenaghan” nor raise it with police, because the documentary was seven-years-old and had “been in the public domain for a significant period of time”.

Mr Allister noted the commission offered Mr Nichol ‘pastoral care’, which he rejected.

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“As is clear from the other contents of the reply, at no time did Mrs Thompson advise an elderly gentlemen who had lost his baby son to an IRA bomb that the forum included an IRA bomber within its members,” the MLA added.

Mrs Thompson’s answers beg “fundamental questions about her duty of care to innocent members of the forum”, shows why the matter was “wholly mishandled” and demonstrates why “she has lost the confidence of many innocent victims” he said.

Mrs Thompson told Mr Allister she takes the emotional well-being of victims “very seriously” and had a framework to “ensure members could demonstrate emotional resilience given the nature of the forum’s deliberations on difficult issues”.

She had advised each member that they may engage with individuals “whom they perceive as being the cause of their harm or hurt” which they had all accepted, she added.

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A spokeswoman responded that the Commission was “disappointed” that its written responses to Mr Allister had been “misrepresented and misinterpreted”.

“The Commission has responded to numerous letters from Mr Allister to clarify the process of Forum appointments which was an open, robust and transparent process embedded in the principal of informed consent,” she said.

The Commission continues to work with forum members to ensure they are supported in the difficult job they have chosen to undertake, she said.

“As you are clearly in receipt of all the letters of correspondence between the Commission and Mr Allister MLA, you will see we have already responded fully. It is clear from your article that the quotes have been selectively used and are not an accurate representation of the full process.”

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