Mr. Michael Culbert:

I will also go back to some of the broad topics mentioned, one of which is the victims' issues. On a personal level, I was on the first victims' forum for a few years. I believe that how they are being treated is terrible. I do not believe that enough is being done. The Eames-Bradley plan was a great model for dealing with the victims of the conflict. It was built a little on the model coming from here. There was a five-year programme here, maybe ten years ago, where the Government gave a degree of financial assistance to victims. I cannot recall the name of the victims' support programme, but I was involved in it for some time. This was a model that the Eames-Bradley plan tried to replicate. Political clout, unfortunately, was used to stymie the implementation of the Eames-Bradley plan for victims.

On the universities, it is very important for people moving on. There were particular courses, especially social work oriented courses and physiotherapy courses, where people had to be vetted for moving in to future work with physically or mentally vulnerable people. These arenas were closed off to people who had been in long-term imprisonment. We have pushed against this and have it cleared, mostly, but people have to fight their individual cases. Unfortunately, there is no situation where if a person has the qualification to get on to the course, he or she will get through. The person must also do the vetting process if he or she is a political ex-prisoner.

With regard to the current lack of government in the North and how it affects things, the one aspect that deals with us as a particular community is the Stormont working group, which is led by the head of the civil service. This group is run by civil servants and they do not need government or MLAs in place to be effective. They do quite good work with us and are very co-operative. When we need their assistance, they move on it, especially Professor Peter Sherlow who heads up one of the working groups. He has been very good to us. This is just to show the broader picture.

I wish to mention one small point, which I do not mean with any bias. Back when they were starting off, the victims' sector in the North of Ireland tended to be representative of victims of the IRA. They have now evolved to be representative of victims of all violence, which includes state force violence. The victims' sector, of its own accord, has been very influential on the Spanish victims' sector, for example, and the Basque scenario there. It has also been very influential in the Colombian situation. I am not aware if any of the committee members have connections with the Colombian situation. I referred to Mr. Chris Maccabe earlier. He and I have been involved in it. The victims' sector in the North of Ireland is very much influencing the victims' sector in the Colombian situation and it is not good because the strong voices in the victims' sector in the North of Ireland tend to be people who would hold a particular view of retribution, vindictiveness and non-forgiveness. The victims' sector in the North of Ireland is quite mixed. I believe that they have not been dealt with very well, but at the same time I believe their influence is over and above what it should be.