Browse content similar to 16/04/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hello and welcome to Stormont Today. And after a weekend of | :00:25. | :00:28. | |
commemorations for the victims of the Titanic disaster, the Assembly | :00:28. | :00:31. | |
returned after its Easter break giving MLAs a chance to pay their | :00:31. | :00:41. | |
:00:41. | :00:43. | ||
tributes. But do we need yet another commemorative plaque? | :00:43. | :00:47. | |
small memorial, because within the hall Stormont building, we don't | :00:47. | :00:50. | |
have anything that commemorates the Titanic. | :00:50. | :00:54. | |
Yet it was the issue of more recent victims which dominated business in | :00:54. | :01:00. | |
the chamber. Information is the key to progress, and I want to take | :01:00. | :01:04. | |
this opportunity to renew the call for information in relation to | :01:04. | :01:09. | |
those victims whose remains have not yet been recovered. | :01:09. | :01:11. | |
And from the victims' organisation Wave, Sandra Peake is my guest | :01:12. | :01:21. | |
Assembly members are back from the Easter break and top of the agenda | :01:21. | :01:23. | |
today was victims. Specifically those who were disappeared during | :01:23. | :01:28. | |
the Troubles. There's still seven families seeking the remains of | :01:28. | :01:30. | |
their loved ones. And during today's debate, there was praise | :01:30. | :01:35. | |
for the victims group Wave. And joining me now is the | :01:35. | :01:42. | |
organisation's chief executive, Sandra Peake. Welcome to the | :01:42. | :01:48. | |
programme. Sandra, what is Wave's role in helping the disappeared? | :01:48. | :01:53. | |
have worked with the families of the disappeared since the 1990s, | :01:53. | :02:03. | |
initially in a support context. Brian McKinney's mother came to us | :02:03. | :02:06. | |
early on, and was very clear that she was looking for his body and | :02:06. | :02:11. | |
wanted to know what had happened to him. I wasn't sure how we could | :02:11. | :02:15. | |
help initially, but we began to work together, and through that, we | :02:15. | :02:21. | |
met the other families and formed a support group which was very much | :02:21. | :02:25. | |
about reducing isolation. Remind us again where were are with this | :02:25. | :02:31. | |
issue. I understand there will be developments soon. Work is imminent | :02:31. | :02:37. | |
and with that the commission in relation hopefully to one family | :02:37. | :02:44. | |
case. It is hoped that there will be further work. Our hope is that | :02:44. | :02:47. | |
all seven will be returned home for Christian burials with their | :02:47. | :02:55. | |
families. We have a very specialist commission with specialist skills | :02:55. | :03:02. | |
and knowledge. They have the technology and funding, but what | :03:02. | :03:07. | |
they need is more information. That is the thing which is most | :03:07. | :03:12. | |
important at present. You listened to the debate today along with some | :03:12. | :03:22. | |
:03:22. | :03:32. | ||
of the families. What does it mean to them to have this debate? It was | :03:32. | :03:36. | |
good for them to listen. There is a sense that they have some | :03:36. | :03:40. | |
recognition now, and a sense that debate is important for the | :03:40. | :03:44. | |
families, and to know that they are recognised. How difficult was it to | :03:44. | :03:52. | |
get the debate? In relation to Dominic Bradley, it is because of | :03:52. | :04:00. | |
his work within the area and families, I suppose that we are | :04:00. | :04:09. | |
very keen on pushing the issue and highlighting that we have | :04:09. | :04:13. | |
commissioned an independent commission for the disappeared. | :04:13. | :04:23. | |
That is what today's debate was about. Her OK, Sandra. Let's hear | :04:23. | :04:26. | |
some of the debate today. And we start with Dominic Bradley, who | :04:26. | :04:32. | |
proposed the motion. It was people from Northern Ireland and from the | :04:32. | :04:37. | |
public who were responsible for the disappearances. Their other people | :04:37. | :04:40. | |
who have the information and can bring the suffering of the families | :04:40. | :04:45. | |
to the end. I want to place on record our thanks to all of those | :04:45. | :04:49. | |
who have come forward to date with information leading to the recovery | :04:49. | :04:55. | |
of remains. That is the key word - information. Information is the key | :04:55. | :05:02. | |
to progress. I want to take this opportunity to renew the call for | :05:02. | :05:06. | |
information in relation to those whose remains have not been | :05:06. | :05:11. | |
recovered. Now is the time for those who have said nothing or who | :05:11. | :05:15. | |
have not said enough to come forward and speak and give | :05:15. | :05:23. | |
information. As the victims commissioner in 2008, I attended a | :05:23. | :05:29. | |
funeral mass for a young lad who was disappeared longer than he was | :05:29. | :05:32. | |
alive - 21 years old when he was killed, but not buried for a | :05:32. | :05:36. | |
further 27 years. I will never forget the picture they used at the | :05:36. | :05:42. | |
Requiem Mass, the picture of a young man entering his twenties, | :05:42. | :05:45. | |
not the picture of a man being buried nearly 50 years after he was | :05:45. | :05:50. | |
born. The family had no choice, because for those 27 years, they | :05:50. | :05:57. | |
had no picture, because he was dead but not buried. It was a stark | :05:57. | :06:00. | |
visual reminder of how unnatural, inhuman and perverted it is to | :06:01. | :06:08. | |
disappear somebody. These bodies would disappear by being buried in | :06:08. | :06:12. | |
secret locations, and that is part of the trauma that the families | :06:12. | :06:22. | |
:06:22. | :06:22. | ||
have endured. It is an injustice. I do repeat and re iterate... Were at | :06:22. | :06:28. | |
the member like to withdraw the statement that he made in January | :06:28. | :06:34. | |
2005 that the killing of Jean McConville was not a criminal act? | :06:34. | :06:39. | |
Or is it still the position of Sinn Fein that that vile murder was in | :06:39. | :06:44. | |
some way justified? Because it was not a criminal act, and if that is | :06:44. | :06:48. | |
the member's stance, then so much of what he says today has no | :06:48. | :06:54. | |
credibility. I think the Member for that intervention. I have to reply | :06:54. | :06:59. | |
in this way. I will address that issue in the context of a process | :06:59. | :07:03. | |
of truth recovery and a process of genuine reconciliation. That would | :07:03. | :07:08. | |
mean that I could expect from all sections around this room, people | :07:08. | :07:12. | |
to acknowledge the role of the British security services in | :07:12. | :07:16. | |
procuring murder and procuring collusion with the murder gangs, | :07:16. | :07:25. | |
and we address all of those issues... At the beginning of this | :07:25. | :07:29. | |
debate, are asked members to refrain and be careful of what they | :07:29. | :07:33. | |
said that they would not jeopardise any future proceedings. I asked the | :07:33. | :07:41. | |
remember -- the member to remember that. I think we do need to have a | :07:41. | :07:46. | |
truth recovery process in which all will come to that table. And number | :07:47. | :07:51. | |
of years ago, I was contacted by one of the family is that we | :07:51. | :08:01. | |
:08:01. | :08:06. | ||
disappeared, the McVeigh family. -- that were disappeared. I met the | :08:06. | :08:16. | |
:08:16. | :08:19. | ||
late Mrs McRae. Writer way I could see on the elderly woman's face the | :08:19. | :08:23. | |
trauma, the distress, the agony, and she was pleading for the return | :08:23. | :08:28. | |
of the body of her son before she herself would pass away. | :08:28. | :08:34. | |
Unfortunately, Mrs McRae has passed away, and she was never to realise | :08:34. | :08:39. | |
that longing in ha-ha at to be reunited with the body of her son | :08:39. | :08:48. | |
so that she could give him a burial, a Christian burial. Sandra, a very | :08:48. | :08:52. | |
poignant story there, but she is not the only one who has passed | :08:53. | :08:58. | |
away without seeing any progress. That is right. For those mothers of | :08:58. | :09:07. | |
the disappeared, it is a very difficult and poignant journey. | :09:08. | :09:17. | |
:09:18. | :09:19. | ||
Kevin McKee's mother - he is still missing - she died before Christmas. | :09:19. | :09:25. | |
Many of them mothers have put their sons names on headstones as a way | :09:25. | :09:35. | |
:09:35. | :09:36. | ||
to try to end Sjoerd -- ensure that they will have a place of rest. | :09:36. | :09:40. | |
heard during the debate that there was progress possibly imminent or | :09:40. | :09:44. | |
some development imminent. Is there anywhere and -- anything else you | :09:44. | :09:50. | |
can share with us? Hopefully work will take place in the near future, | :09:50. | :09:57. | |
and I think that that will come into the public domain. The hope of | :09:57. | :10:02. | |
all families when they see work commence is that they will be next. | :10:02. | :10:06. | |
Our need is to keep continuing to work on the issue to make sure that | :10:06. | :10:16. | |
:10:16. | :10:18. | ||
there is further progress. And sometimes when you least expect it, | :10:18. | :10:21. | |
when a search has taken some time and families are beginning to think | :10:21. | :10:31. | |
:10:31. | :10:37. | ||
that they are not there, remains have been found. Thank you, Sandra. | :10:37. | :10:40. | |
The reform of welfare and coping with its fallout is a major | :10:40. | :10:42. | |
challenge facing the Assembly, as we've documented on this programme. | :10:42. | :10:44. | |
We'll hear the the social development minister answering | :10:44. | :10:47. | |
questions on that shortly, but first, did you know this island | :10:47. | :10:49. | |
could be self-sufficient in electricity and could even become | :10:49. | :10:51. | |
an exporter of power to other areas? | :10:51. | :10:53. | |
Listen now to the environment minister. | :10:53. | :11:00. | |
The answer is that in the 2010/2011 year, there were 639 planning | :11:00. | :11:07. | |
applications for wind turbines, 620 for a single wind and 19 | :11:07. | :11:11. | |
applications for wind farms. In the period from April to December of | :11:11. | :11:15. | |
the last business year, and figures for the last one had yet to be | :11:15. | :11:22. | |
fully updated, during that nine- month period, there were 500 | :11:22. | :11:26. | |
applications for single wind farm turbines, 29 applications for wind | :11:26. | :11:34. | |
farms. Those figures do not take into account other renewable | :11:34. | :11:38. | |
applications for anaerobic do jesters and other renewable | :11:38. | :11:45. | |
opportunities. But the scale of the opportunities both in the preceding | :11:45. | :11:54. | |
year and in the the period up to September last year, it confirms to | :11:54. | :12:00. | |
me that renewables remains of this island's and the north of this | :12:00. | :12:07. | |
island's single biggest opportunity. Could the minister at this point in | :12:07. | :12:12. | |
time give us a figure as regards to how many of these multiple | :12:12. | :12:16. | |
applications are within this boundary? I certainly will be able | :12:16. | :12:20. | |
to break it down, but not right at this moment. I will come back to | :12:20. | :12:29. | |
the member in that regard. Behind the question, there is this. That | :12:29. | :12:33. | |
we have been the test-bed for renewable wind applications in | :12:33. | :12:38. | |
Northern Ireland. If you look at the map in respect of wind farm and | :12:38. | :12:46. | |
wind turbine applications, you will perceive that it is in this Berens | :12:46. | :12:50. | |
where the single greatest concentration of applications and | :12:50. | :12:56. | |
approvals are demonstrated. And in that regard, we need to learn from | :12:56. | :13:00. | |
that experience, to ensure that every opportunity as the | :13:00. | :13:06. | |
opportunities for wind farms spread to the east, and as opportunities | :13:06. | :13:09. | |
begin to develop for offshore at the end of this colour the year, we | :13:09. | :13:14. | |
need to learn from that experience in order to ensure that everybody - | :13:14. | :13:17. | |
- every reasonable opportunity is grasped in a way that local | :13:17. | :13:22. | |
communities can with live with that doesn't come at a price of natural | :13:22. | :13:28. | |
beauty, and yet seizes this opportunity for the people of the | :13:28. | :13:35. | |
North. It is the case that when it comes to wind, wave and tide, and | :13:35. | :13:40. | |
in the future, thermal as well, the opportunities for this island over | :13:40. | :13:45. | |
the next 10 or 20 years are to become self-sufficient in terms of | :13:45. | :13:50. | |
electricity and indeed become a net exporter of electricity. It is | :13:50. | :13:54. | |
something that our governments are beginning to grasp and need to more | :13:54. | :14:03. | |
On to social development and the reform of housing benefit which | :14:03. | :14:08. | |
will see people under 35 per one living alone are having their | :14:08. | :14:13. | |
benefit reduced. The precise effect of welfare reform on tenants more | :14:13. | :14:18. | |
widely is not known. My department is taking steps to identify what | :14:18. | :14:22. | |
services and support need to be put in place to assist those who are | :14:22. | :14:28. | |
impacted by the changes. This will include assessing the adequacy of | :14:28. | :14:31. | |
shared and smaller homes and the house and strategy will address | :14:31. | :14:41. | |
:14:41. | :14:42. | ||
this question further. SPEAKS GAELIC thank you, Mr Speaker and | :14:42. | :14:52. | |
:14:52. | :14:55. | ||
the Minister for his answer. What exactly will his department did to | :14:55. | :15:05. | |
prevent increased homelessness? have given in the initial answer | :15:05. | :15:10. | |
the figures for the number of properties that there are already | :15:10. | :15:17. | |
in multiple occupation which has 398. In terms of other things that | :15:17. | :15:23. | |
can be done, we have certainly spoken very clearly to Housing | :15:23. | :15:26. | |
Executive and the housing associations in regard to the type | :15:26. | :15:30. | |
of accommodation that they include in their social housing development | :15:30. | :15:34. | |
plan so that in bringing a forward they take account of welfare reform, | :15:34. | :15:38. | |
rather than simply bringing forward a plan based on the situation as it | :15:38. | :15:45. | |
was before and I am awaiting the final outcome of that plan in the | :15:45. | :15:50. | |
very near future. In terms of also helping people in the interim | :15:50. | :15:57. | |
period, there are a number of measures that can be undertaken and | :15:57. | :16:01. | |
the discretionary fund is one of those. We are working in that | :16:01. | :16:08. | |
regard. There is already some level of provision. But I have 10th so | :16:08. | :16:14. | |
size -- I have to emphasise that detailed provision is not available | :16:14. | :16:20. | |
and secondly, the exact implications of welfare reform on | :16:20. | :16:28. | |
housing, when we re over in London recently talking with Department | :16:28. | :16:34. | |
for Work and Pensions, that was one area where there was the highest | :16:34. | :16:40. | |
level of uncertainty. And why are so many homes lying empty when | :16:40. | :16:44. | |
people are queuing up for somewhere to live? And impatient Mike Nesbitt | :16:44. | :16:48. | |
wanted to know. The indeed, if the member looks down the list of | :16:48. | :16:53. | |
questions today, he will see there are questions specifically on the | :16:53. | :16:57. | |
issue of empty homes and we are operating two pilot schemes to see | :16:57. | :17:00. | |
what is the best way in the Northern Ireland context of | :17:00. | :17:07. | |
addressing the issue of empty homes. There are a number of issues where | :17:07. | :17:12. | |
there are -- areas where there are a concentration of empty homes. We | :17:12. | :17:16. | |
need to address that. What other reasons why they are lying vacant | :17:16. | :17:19. | |
and what can be done to get them back into use as quickly as | :17:19. | :17:26. | |
possible? Once we have complete the -- completed the pilot scheme, or | :17:26. | :17:30. | |
we will be in a position to go on to the next stage. | :17:30. | :17:36. | |
There were two new boys starting at Stormont Today. Retired school | :17:36. | :17:42. | |
principal and retired principal Sean Rogers replaced Margaret | :17:42. | :17:46. | |
Ritchie and Chris has it, a PhD student takes over from Willie | :17:46. | :17:51. | |
Clarke, who stepped down in favour of his council work -- Chris hazard. | :17:51. | :17:56. | |
I caught up with them. delighted in be here in the | :17:56. | :18:02. | |
Assembly. I know have a hard act to follow but I'm looking forward to | :18:02. | :18:07. | |
the challenge and I am delighted and feel honoured to represent the | :18:07. | :18:10. | |
people of South Down. As a young person I am hoping to get more | :18:10. | :18:15. | |
young people involved. There is this idea that young people do not | :18:15. | :18:20. | |
see this as somewhere they can come to, and get involved in politics. | :18:20. | :18:25. | |
I'm hoping I can help lead that. Economy is at the forefront of all | :18:26. | :18:30. | |
of our minds. What you have to offer? I think I bring my | :18:30. | :18:35. | |
experience as a parent, as an educationalist but most importantly | :18:35. | :18:40. | |
as a community worker in my parish and my football club. These are | :18:40. | :18:44. | |
challenging times, particularly on this day when we are at -- | :18:44. | :18:47. | |
remembering the Titanic in the chamber, there are two aspects that | :18:47. | :18:53. | |
I want to bring to your attention in terms of Southdown. It is | :18:54. | :18:57. | |
fantastic to bring tourists into Northern Ireland and let Titanic be | :18:58. | :19:04. | |
a springboard to bring tourists to all the parts of the area from | :19:04. | :19:11. | |
Downpatrick down to Newry. Love aspect as well is on that Titanic | :19:11. | :19:17. | |
disaster across the Atlantic, there were 120 people in third class from | :19:17. | :19:22. | |
Ireland who were going to find a better life in America. History is | :19:22. | :19:30. | |
repeating itself. Four out of my family work outside this country. | :19:30. | :19:34. | |
26 members of my football club are now in Australia because there is | :19:34. | :19:38. | |
no work in this country. I want to get jobs on the agenda. Whether | :19:38. | :19:44. | |
that is tourism, aggro Foods, the opportunities are there in | :19:44. | :19:49. | |
sustainable energy to bring jobs to South Down. Sinn Fein are making | :19:49. | :19:54. | |
much of that Chris as a young person, the SDLP are missing a | :19:54. | :19:57. | |
trick because there was a young person he wanted the job, Colin | :19:58. | :20:04. | |
McGrath? Yes, I was selected by the party which ran on at about but I | :20:04. | :20:08. | |
bring my experience to this job. seemed a bit anxious to get up here, | :20:08. | :20:13. | |
there was speculation that you were unhappy that Margaret Ritchie was | :20:13. | :20:17. | |
taking her time to step aside? Don't believe everything you | :20:17. | :20:21. | |
reading the papers. I am happy to work closely with Margaret and | :20:21. | :20:25. | |
Karen, the three SDLP representatives in South Down. | :20:25. | :20:30. | |
Chris, some people said you were tipped to take on Margaret Ritchie? | :20:30. | :20:35. | |
I don't know about that. I have a big job on my hands here getting | :20:35. | :20:42. | |
settled into the Assembly. Westminster is a while away now. | :20:42. | :20:46. | |
The tide is starting to turn in South Down. Sinn Fein has been | :20:46. | :20:51. | |
making massive progress. There are big prospects in the future for | :20:51. | :20:55. | |
Sinn Fein, right across the island but in areas like Southdown we are | :20:55. | :21:05. | |
starting to grow. We are waiting for them, we are happier. | :21:05. | :21:09. | |
MLAs and Assembly staff held a special prayer of remembrance for | :21:09. | :21:13. | |
the victims of the Titanic. And in the debating chamber, members | :21:13. | :21:16. | |
called for any further marking of the anniversary to be a dignified | :21:16. | :21:22. | |
tribute to those who have lost their lives. I have already | :21:22. | :21:24. | |
mentioned the financial support that the Assembly has given to | :21:24. | :21:31. | |
Titanic Belfast and I think we should look at the Assembly | :21:31. | :21:35. | |
Commission may be to investigate the potential of some sort of | :21:35. | :21:40. | |
memorial, a small memorial. Within the whole Stormont building we do | :21:40. | :21:44. | |
not have anything that marks the Titanic and I think that is very | :21:44. | :21:48. | |
sad. But I think it is fitting that we have the opportunity to speak | :21:48. | :21:52. | |
about the Titanic in the Northern Ireland Assembly today, nearly to | :21:52. | :21:56. | |
the day that she was lost and to celebrate the launch as well, to | :21:56. | :22:01. | |
remember those lives. The ceremony earlier today, and can I thank the | :22:01. | :22:05. | |
Speaker and his office for organising such a solemn and moving | :22:05. | :22:09. | |
cross-party event, it was definitely a tribute to this House | :22:09. | :22:18. | |
about how we can come together and celebrate joint events. This is a | :22:18. | :22:23. | |
tragedy for which really nobody was to blame, except in nature, it | :22:23. | :22:27. | |
marks the beginning though for all of us of a decade of what may well | :22:27. | :22:33. | |
be much more contentious commemoration. And what we might | :22:34. | :22:41. | |
take from the Titanic story is the simple fact of the level of the | :22:41. | :22:47. | |
individual and family, all lost as equally tragic. We need to show the | :22:47. | :22:53. | |
same respect for all of those who lost lives in the ensuing years | :22:53. | :22:59. | |
after 1912 and for all the families who suffered loss, just the same as | :22:59. | :23:03. | |
today, we are thinking of and commemorating those people who | :23:03. | :23:11. | |
found a cold grave, those 1570 souls who found a cold grave in the | :23:11. | :23:15. | |
Atlantic. I do believe I am the only person here who worked in a | :23:16. | :23:21. | |
shipyard and that may surprise a lot of people. Can I just say that | :23:22. | :23:31. | |
:23:32. | :23:32. | ||
the Titanic itself was launched on 31st May 1911. It lost -- it sank | :23:32. | :23:40. | |
with the loss of 1517 people. Little did the world know that one | :23:40. | :23:43. | |
of the biggest events in the Millennium had occurred. | :23:44. | :23:49. | |
We heard therefore I call for a Titanic memorial here at Stormont. | :23:49. | :23:52. | |
What do you think about that? suppose the commemoration events | :23:52. | :23:56. | |
over the last few days have been important and when you think we are | :23:56. | :24:00. | |
marking 100 years. It is interesting because it in the | :24:00. | :24:04. | |
context of education, children are learning about the Titanic in | :24:04. | :24:07. | |
schools so I suppose it has a symbolic gesture not only for those | :24:07. | :24:13. | |
who are older but those who are younger. Regarding a commemoration | :24:13. | :24:20. | |
here, I suppose that would be entirely appropriate. The list of | :24:20. | :24:25. | |
names has appeared at City Hall. you think we will get a point where | :24:25. | :24:29. | |
we have all the victims of the Troubles on one memorial? I would | :24:29. | :24:33. | |
hope at some stage there would be something that people would view as | :24:33. | :24:37. | |
a fitting form of acknowledgement for those who died. We must also | :24:37. | :24:42. | |
remember those who were injured. The scale of injured his height but | :24:42. | :24:45. | |
often we concentrate on those who have died but there are those who | :24:45. | :24:49. | |
live with deeply embedded wounds and it is important to remove -- to | :24:49. | :24:55. | |
remember them. Thank you. A new leader and a new | :24:55. | :24:58. | |
broom - Mike Nesbitt has been making some changes in the Ulster | :24:58. | :25:05. | |
Unionist Party. Earlier, Gareth gave me the latest update. | :25:05. | :25:09. | |
Sir Reg Empey, as you and I know him, he is not coming back as party | :25:09. | :25:15. | |
leader, he is coming back as Party Chairman. That is quite an own this | :25:15. | :25:18. | |
task. The party confirmed his appointment this morning. What they | :25:18. | :25:23. | |
did not tell us was that he was not the first choice. That was the | :25:23. | :25:28. | |
former Party Chairman James Cooper. I interviewed the party leader this | :25:28. | :25:32. | |
morning. He stopped short of confirming that. I certainly had a | :25:32. | :25:36. | |
conversation with James Cooper and many conversations with different | :25:36. | :25:41. | |
people. It is a bit of a jigsaw when you have four picks only. I | :25:41. | :25:45. | |
could have used six or seven. Usain you did not offer the job of | :25:45. | :25:51. | |
chairman to James Cooper? I am saying any discussions I had were | :25:51. | :25:55. | |
private and confidential. I only have four picks. I had six or seven | :25:55. | :26:00. | |
people I would love to have had on the team. I'm delighted Lord Empey | :26:00. | :26:05. | |
has agreed to be Party Chairman. James Cooper has confirmed he was | :26:05. | :26:09. | |
offered the job. I called James Cooper this afternoon and he said | :26:09. | :26:14. | |
he had been offered it but he was too busy to take up the appointment. | :26:14. | :26:18. | |
He said it was an important and challenging post and required, if | :26:18. | :26:23. | |
not a permanent presence in Belfast, more of a presence than he could | :26:23. | :26:33. | |
:26:33. | :26:36. | ||
give it. He is a solicitor based in Enniskillen. Easts -- there was | :26:36. | :26:40. | |
another possibility? Environment Minister is discussing | :26:40. | :26:48. | |
ways of curbing illegal drinking and Joanne Dobson is concerned that | :26:48. | :26:54. | |
Maisie affect newlyweds who have a drink in a private vehicle on their | :26:54. | :27:01. | |
way to the reception -- that may affect. And case anyone worried | :27:01. | :27:05. | |
that Joanne Dobson is asking about this on her own behalf, I can | :27:05. | :27:08. | |
confirm she got married many years ago. | :27:08. | :27:12. | |
We were talking about the importance of information and | :27:12. | :27:17. | |
helping families of the disappeared get peace, what can you offer | :27:17. | :27:22. | |
families who might have some information? There is a process in | :27:22. | :27:28. | |
place which protects individuals. It can only be used to protect | :27:28. | :27:33. | |
people who are missing. It is important for anyone to cast their | :27:33. | :27:37. | |
mind back. Something could seem very insignificant but would be | :27:37. | :27:41. | |
important for the Commission. It is important we get information | :27:41. | :27:45. | |
through the channels which are available. There is a number which | :27:45. | :27:49. | |
people can phone confidentially and assist us with the process. There | :27:49. | :27:53. | |
are some developments in the next year because there is a book coming | :27:53. | :27:57. | |
out on the disappeared. We are conscious that the families have | :27:57. | :28:03. | |
been keen to show a -- share their story. A number of families have | :28:03. | :28:08. | |
been recording their stories in a book. That is about the human | :28:08. | :28:12. | |
Saidabad to be missing were in their families, in terms of being | :28:12. | :28:21. | |
brothers, sisters, daughters, sons. -- that is that the human side. | :28:21. | :28:27. | |
Some of them were only 16 up? of them had learning difficulties | :28:27. | :28:32. | |
and other issues. That is a very startling thing. Some of these | :28:32. | :28:36. | |
folks have been missing longer than they were alive. For the families, | :28:36. | :28:39. | |
they are very much bare and the families want to bring them home | :28:39. | :28:43. | |
and it is right and fitting that they did. I'm sure we will hear | :28:44. | :28:47. |