Mr. David Kelly:

I will respond to Senator Craughwell's comments on the potential for a truth recovery commission. I think the potential for healing exists if we talk about people suffering in the present. Even at the end of the process, if the victims are not completely satisfied that it can proceed and the evidence cannot be used in a court of law, the opportunity may exist for them. It may not work. In my case my father was the Irish Army soldier killed in Ballinamore in 1983. The perpetrators were Maze escapees from Belfast and this year, 34 years later, there is no truth, which is very difficult. No support was provided for my family afterwards. It was all downhill. Three years later we were living homeless on the streets of London. That is how significant it is. Talking about women's rights, my mother went through years of domestic abuse. That is how these things play out. I like the sound of a truth commission. It may not work in my case but if it gives anyone peace, closure or healing after such traumatic events in their families' lives it is worth pursuing.