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History

Beginnings

In February 1999 Victim Support Northern Ireland (VSNI) and the Northern Ireland Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NIACRO) jointly decided to invite Dr Alex Boraine to visit Northern Ireland. Dr Boraine, Deputy Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC) in South Africa, met many groups and individuals to discuss the experience of, and the lessons learnt from, the TRC and to consider any bearing they may have on the conflict in Northern Ireland.

All Truth Is Bitter

A small working group was formed of the people who had coordinated the visit of Dr Boraine with representatives from the Community Relations Council (CRC).


Funded by the CRC the group produced a report of the discussions which had taken place during Dr Boraine's visit entitled All Truth is Bitter, Dr Boraine returned to Northern Ireland in March 2000 to launch the report and to engage in further discussions based on the report.

It was clear from these meetings there was a surprising amount of consensus among those whom he met. It was agreed that it would be a useful exercise to explore and debate ways of examining the possible parameters within which we might establish a mechanism to identify our own truth.

The Healing Through Remembering Project

At this stage the working group prepared a proposal with the intention of having another stage of debate and discussion. The main objective of the proposal was to submit a written report and recommendations to the British and Irish Governments and to the First and Deputy First Ministerís Office that would identify a specific programme of action likely to lead to a successful truth finding process. From this proposal independent funding was secured to further this work.



In the proposal, the working group had clearly stated that they felt any process must be co-ordinated by a more diverse group of individuals than themselves if it was to succeed. They set in place the necessary structure for an independent project. This project was named the Healing Through Remembering Project with the aim of implementing the project proposal.


A number of individuals were then approached and invited to attend a meeting with the view to forming a Board to oversee the project. The invited individuals were from diverse backgrounds. It included some who had met with Dr Boraine on his visits and some who were new to the debate, as well as those who had engaged in the debate following the publication of All Truth Is Bitter.


Following several meetings by the 19 individuals where they discussed and debated the proposed project and their possible role in the work they eventually agreed to form a Project Board to implement the project.


In June 2001 the group of individuals formally agreed to become the Healing Through Remembering Project Board. The Project Board then began to address how best to fulfil its mission and applied itself to the consultation process.


At this stage a language sub group and a diversity sub group were established. The language sub group considered the vocabulary used in all Healing Through Remembering material, while the diversity sub group monitored the membership of the Board to ensure that anyone from any background would feel comfortable with approaching at least one member of the Board and that voices could be heard from all sections of society.

A public consultation

Before any consultation could be started it was important to clarify what to ask in the consultation. The Board developed the following question: How should people remember the events connected with the conflict in and about Northern Ireland and in so doing, individually and collectively contribute to the healing of the wounds of society?


This question, along with a number of sub questions, formed the basis for a wider consultation process and a call for submissions in answer to the question. Adverts were placed in 56 local newspapers, 5000 project leaflets were distributed, over 400 organisations were personally invited by letter to make a submission and 14 groups availed of the offer of facilitations carried out by HTR staff and Board Members.


A total of 108 submissions were received in response to the call for submissions. The submissions came from individuals, groups and organisations. It was agreed that the names on the submissions should be removed and each submission summarised before being passed to the Board for consideration. The submissions were also summarised under broad themes.


The Board were encouraged by the number of people who endorsed the value of remembering and the many who spoke of the importance of finding ways to move society forward. they felt they had a responsibility not only to reflect what was said but also to help chart a way forward. The decision was taken that in the writing up of the report, a the working together of the Board, a number of recommendations should be made.

The Healing Through Remembering Report is launched

The Healing Through Remembering Report was officially launched in June 2002 in the Linen Hall Library with the following 6 recommendations:


  • Network of Commemoration and Remembering Projects
  • Day of Reflection
  • Collective Storytelling and Archiving Process
  • Permanent Living Memorial Museum
  • Acknowledgement
  • Healing Through Remembering Initiative

After the Report

Between the launch of the report and October 2003 ongoing discussion and debate continued about the content of the Report.

Current Work

In October 2003 Healing Through Remembering became a limited company and independent funding was sourced to allow the Initiative to begin formally working on the further discussions on the Reportís recommendations.


In August 2004 five Sub Groups were formed and met for the first time. Each Sub Group has addressed its own diverse membership and is discussing and debating the issues around each of the recommendations made in the 2002 Report. The Sub Groups identify areas of work to enable further enlightened discussion on their particular topic. In light of the work and their discussions they are taking steps to begin to further each recommendation (For more details on each of the Sub Groups and their current work, click here).


Healing Through Remembering is a membership organisation and it is growing. Additionally, there are participants in the work of Healing Through Remembering who are not members. For more information on contributing to Healing Through Remembering, go to Contribute - Getting Involved or click here.