'Truth Commission' Unlikely Reconciliation Option

The Consultative Group on the Past - chaired by former Church of Ireland primate Lord Eames and former Police Authority Vice Chairman Denis Bradley - began a series of public meetings in Belfast last night.

Set up in 2007, the group is due to publish its recommendations later this year. They have already had a series of high-level private meetings and inspected material from the Stevens Inquiry's investigations into collusion. They also intend to meet paramilitary leaders later this year.

While it is understood the consultative body, which by the end of the month will have met with 90 separate groups, has not found much support for a South African-style Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a number of other equally contentious options are currently being considered in advance of a report being prepared for the Government this summer.

They include a truth recovery process that would allow those involved in unsolved murders to disclose what happened without fear of prosecution; asking the main participants in the conflict to apologise for the hurt they caused – to include the Government and security forces as well as paramilitary organisations and the drafting of a covenant that people could sign committing them to non-violent means.

The ideas being put forward also include making the Historic Enquiries Team an independent body, separate from the PSNI, and widening its remit to cover the Republic of Ireland.

It has even been proposed this new body could also employ former paramilitaries to enable it to access further details about past killings and to create an audiovisual database of testimonies given in the truth recovery exercise.

(BMcC)