UHRW held its strategic planning conference at Brownlow House on Thursday 27 February 2020, to support development of a client led work plan for the advocacy service until 2023. This event, hosted by Ray Hayden, considered points raised at a previous meeting, alongside reports on current work by Jonathan Larner, and the forthright rejection by UHRW of the legacy bodies proposed under the Stormont House Agreement by Axel Schmidt.
Further sessions were held under the titles of restitution for the past, recording the past, remembering the past, and reinvestigating the past. These were a presentation on the upcoming payment scheme for seriously injured, by Advocacy Manager Axel Schmidt, highlighting characteristics of the scheme, the exclusion clauses for terrorists, and our work with the NIO in the consultation process.
After lunch an overview of the work of PRONI and our Legacy of the Past Record project was delivered by Wesley Geddis of PRONI, with a personal testimony of loss by victim of IRA terrorism Mary McCurrie. We are very thankful to Charlie Bennett for an informative presentation on the Ulster Defence Regiment, in which the sacrifices of the UDR for the cause of peace were remembered.
The event closed with D/Supt. Stephen Wright of Legacy Investigation Branch explaining the activities and processes of LIB and fielding a range of questions from delegates. We are thankful to all who took part and were present to make the event a success.