Historical institutional abuse awareness campaign

Jon McCourt, the tireless Derry advocate for victims and survivors of historical institutional abuse, has welcomed a new campaign around the issue.

Jon spoke to Derry Now following the Executive Office’s launch this week of a campaign aimed at raising awareness regarding the support, services and redress available in the Derry area.

“We first mooted a publicity campaign when the Redress Board was being established, well before the legislation was passed in Westminster in November 2019. I was there that day and I will never forget it.

“We were urging the decision-makers to move on setting up the ‘ready to go’ button for redress as soon as the legislation was passed and they said, ‘Okay.’”

The Redress Board is responsible for receiving and processing applications for compensation from those who experienced abuse in residential institutions in the North of Ireland between 1922 and 1995. 

Jon added: “We have been working on it since then but, with covid kicking in in 2020, everything got a wee bit lost. The important thing to remember is that time is really of the essence for the victims and survivors of historical institutional abuse. The Redress Board started operating on March 31, 2020 and the legislation underpinning it only runs for five years. 

“So we are now almost halfway through the redress process and still there are people out there who do not know it even exists. 

“That is why it is so crucial that there is a publicity campaign, targeting the Derry area, about  the support, services and redress available.

“However, it is not just about reaching people in the North. I know there are people here who still don’t know how to go about getting support, services and redress, so the publicity campaign is positive for that. 

“It is also about reaching people across the border. It is about reaching people in England, Scotland and Wales. People who are now in their 70s and 80s, who were in institutions here and who left the North or left this island, maybe in the 1950s or 1960s, after coming out of a children’s home,” said Jon.

Poignantly Jon added these victims and survivors of historical institutional abuse, often left with all their experience of institutional abuse carried  wherever they went.

He said: “The whole thing about this was about keeping their heads down about not mentioning it. It was trying to pretend it didn’t happen. 

“For a lot of people that was more damaging. We have seen the results of this and anyone who knows anything about trauma knows where this ends up. They end up in drains. They end up in rivers. They end up drinking themselves to death. All of that. They end up working through bad relationships and all the rest.

“And, it is not just the redress process. It is not just about financial redress. It is about know there is support out there, There is help out there.

“If they want to contact the Redress Board and make an application then there is support to do that but it is also about if someone wants  to contact the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) support scheme, which will also give them support. It will give them the trauma support they urgently need just to get them to open that door, to realise they are not on their own.

“For me, that is more important than somebody filling in a form and making an application for financial redress,” said Jon.
Jon stressed that survivors of victims and survivors of historical institutional abuse needed psychological support.

“There are stacks of issues that come with this abuse,” he said. “You have people who went ‘off the rails’. There is the whole issue of homelessness and people sleeping God knows where. 

“Again, this is something about getting them in touch with an agency which will help them, probably for the first time they have ever been helped.

“I am now 70 years old and a lot of the people we are talking about, people who were in the home with me, would be close to their 80s and maybe older. We would have people here with the additional complications of Alzheimer's, dementia, Parkinson’s. So, as well as the direct approach of putting a poster up in doctors’ surgeries and bus shelters, you have to get in touch with the Alzhiemer’s society, the Parkinson’s groups,” said Jon.

He added that these groups had monthly magazines, which were posted out, through which victims and survivors of historical institutional abuse and their carers could be reached. 

“As well as redress, people might require access to a counsellor, help with chiropody and podiatry. For anyone with diabetes, it is crucial they look after their feet. 

“I am also pleased that Fiona Ryan, the North's commissioner for childhood abuse survivors, is also running a campaign of  International outreach through the Irish Embassies and Irish centres in America, Canada and Australia. 

“I want outreach to people in Perth in Australia, and  Toronto in Canada, as well as people living in Ballymagroarty.

“A lot of people left because they just could not handle what was happening,” reflected Jon McCourt.

Speaking about the Executive Office’s awareness raising campaign, Denis McMahon, Permanent Secretary at the Executive Office, explained: “Victims and survivors of historical abuse face very personal, difficult and unique challenges as a result of their lived experience across a wide range of institutions and it is important that they get advice on making an application for compensation and access to services they need.”

Since establishment of the office in December 2020, the Commissioner for Survivors of Institutional Childhood Abuse (COSICA) has continued to successfully promote the interests of victims and survivors, while providing direct advice and support to over 500 people.

To date, 900 people have availed of the help and support offered by the Victims and Survivors Service (VSS). The Historical Institutional Abuse Redress Board have made compensation award determinations of over £65m so far.

Mr McMahon continued: “The focus now is ensuring those who have not yet come forward know that help is available. We also want to ensure that victims and survivors are fully supported before they submit an application to the Redress Board, so that is why we are advising those who may wish to apply to contact COSICA and VSS in the first instance.”

Commissioner for Survivors of Institutional Childhood Abuse, Fiona Ryan said: “I know from many survivors whom I have listened to, the trauma of the abuse they suffered as children is not a distant memory but a reality they live with every day.

“I know that for others even acknowledging what happened to them is a source of deep pain and shame. Every survivor is an individual and the choice they make about whether, when and how they seek services or redress is their own and should be respected.  

“My hope is that this campaign, which has long been asked for by victims and survivors, and my own Office’s international awareness initiative reaches survivors who are unaware or unsure of their entitlements and provides them with the information they need to make informed choices in accessing supports, services and redress.”

Oliver Wilkinson, Chair of the VSS, added: “To date our dedicated team have had the privilege of supporting over 900 survivors with tailored packages of care with the support of our community partners Wave Trauma Centre and Advice NI.

"This campaign is a welcome and important step in ensuring that survivors are aware of the full range of supports and services available to them and I would encourage those who wish to avail of support to get in touch with our dedicated team for more information.”

Mr Justice Stephen Fowler, President of the Historical Institutional Abuse Redress Board, said: “We welcome the efforts to increase awareness of victims and survivors to all of the advice and support services available under the redress scheme as envisaged in the Hart Report and underpinned by legislation.”