Jon declines British  ‘honour’ due to forced child migration and Bloody Sunday 

Jon McCourt

Jon McCourt, the tireless Derry advocate for victims and survivors of historical institutional abuse, has explained why he declined inclusion on the birthday honours list of Britain’s King Charles. 

Jon refused an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) citing what he described as “forced child migration” from the city “as part of the propagation of Empire” and the murder of 14 Derry people by the British army on Bloody Sunday, January 30, 1972, as his reasons for doing so. 

In his considered response to the honours committee, the offering body, Jon highlighted the harrowing experience of Peggy Gibson from Derry, who was transported as an “orphan”.

“Peggy only discovered on a visit to Derry in her later years she was not in fact an orphan at all when she was removed from the Nazareth House in Derry,” said Jon, “but sadly, her mother and her brother had both died before she returned.”

Jon also recounted to the committee his trauma at witnessing his friend being murdered on Bloody Sunday. 

Jon McCourt sees his friend murdered on Bloody Sunday.

Including a photograph taken on the day in his reply, Jon wrote: “[This] is another personal reason. 

“I'm in the middle of the photograph. Against the fence on my left I'd a sixteen year old boy who has just been shot, the boy behind me would be shot next and my friend would be murdered in front of me while he lay already mortally wounded on the kerb feet in front of me on Bloody Sunday. 

“The King is the Honorary Colonel in Chief of the Regiment responsible. One of the soldiers involved was also awarded an MBE. 

“As an Irish man and a proud Derry man, who survived that horrific day, I could not with any integrity and conscience accept an MBE. Therefore I am declining the offer. I thank you on behalf of Survivors ((North West) and all Victims and Survivors of Historical Institutional Abuse for the consideration.”

Speaking to Derry News, Jon said he had declined the MBE “with dignity and for good reason”.

'Forced child migration' from Derry 'as part of the propagation of Empire' - Jon McCourt

“As soon as I opened the letter, I thought of Peggy Gibson and of a young boy with a tag round his neck with his name and his weight on it. They were ballast on an empty ship,” he said.

“I had the ship’s manifest somewhere in my pile of documents. The boy’s name was Bernard Kerr. He was taken from Termonbacca. The ship was the SS Astoria, if I remember correctly. 

“All of the young people on board were signed off ‘in loco parentis’ by Fr Rooney from St Columb’s College, later a much admired parish priest in Creggan. I don’t believe he would have met any of these children.

“Just imagine Peggy Gibson or any of the others being literally given to the other side of the world as an orphan, then finding out years later you had family alive in Derry.

“That could have been me or my brothers because we were in Termonbacca from 1955 to 1965, or my sister in the Nazareth House, if it had been eight years later. That thought still gives me the shivers. I had the press photograph blown up to A1 size at the start of the Historical Institutional Abuse campaign to remind me every day,” said Jon. 

The text of Jon’s full letter to the honours committee read: “Dear Sir/Madam, I thank you for the notification that I am to be recommended for the honour of Member of the Order of the British Empire. 

“I am pleased that the work we have been engaged in on behalf of Victims and Survivors of Historical Institutional Abuse has been recognised by the Government. It was a privilege to work with many representatives across the political spectrum to ensure that the long search for justice for some of the most vulnerable children in our society, abused while in the care of the State and religious institutions, would finally be achieved through the The Inquiry into Historical Institutional Abuse Act (Northern Ireland) 2013 and The Historical Institutional Abuse (Northern Ireland) 2019. 

“Among the thousands of Victims and Survivors of Historical Institutional Abuse who will have seen our efforts as a successful campaign are many who were stolen as children and ripped from their homeland, most never to return, under the Child Migrant Act as part of the propagation of Empire. 

“Having spoken to some of them, and heard their heart wrenching experiences of lost family ties, brutality and abuse, my thoughts as I write this are especially with them. Particularly Peggy Gibson from Derry transported as an “orphan”, who gave a statement to the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry cataloguing that brutality only to discover on a visit to Derry in her later years that she was not an orphan when she was removed from the Nazareth House in Derry, but sadly her mother and her brother had died before she returned.  

“The campaign for justice for Victims and Survivors of Historical Institutional Abuse crossed the religious and political divide in this country. We were clear at the outset that we were not seeking an Inquiry into solely Catholic run institutions. Victims and Survivors came from a broad section of State and Religious Institutions each with their own traumatic experience to recall. We stayed away, I believe successfully, from anything political that would have detracted from our cause. 

“Just as the HIA Report was due to be released, the Executive collapsed in 2017, which caused significant delay in establishing the Redress Process and again in 2022 just ahead of the long awaited apology although frustrated, we remained patient and dignified, acting as persuaders and trusting that we would eventually conclude the journey we had been on since 2009. 

“As well as acknowledging those who suffered under the Child Migrant Scheme stolen from here with the sole purpose of the propagation of Empire, the photograph is another personal reason. I'm in the middle of the photograph. Against the fence on my left I'd a sixteen year old boy who has just been shot, the boy behind me would be shot next and my friend would be murdered in front of me while he lay already mortally wounded on the kerb, feet in front of me on Bloody Sunday. 

“The King is the Honorary Colonel in Chief of the Regiment responsible. One of the soldiers involved was also awarded an MBE. As an Irish man and a proud Derry man, who survived that horrific day, I appreciate the intention of the nomination, for me the work on the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry and our role was sufficiently recognised in the passing of the legislation at Stormont and Westminster bringing Justice and Acknowledgement for thousands of Victims and Survivors of Historical Institutional Abuse. 

“However as an Irishman and particularly as a Derry man I could not with any integrity and conscience accept an MBE. Therefore I am declining the offer. I thank you on behalf of Survivors ((North West) and all Victims and Survivors of Historical Institutional Abuse for the consideration. Jon McCourt”