Ms Michelle Gildernew:

Ms Thompson and Mr. Bracknell are both welcome. If I walked past Mr. Bracknell outside and did not speak to him, I apologise. I thank Ms Thompson for her opening remarks.

There is a lot in here. The witnesses have spoken about meeting representatives of the Government and the Department of foreign affairs. Have they met with the Taoiseach or Deputy Coveney? If the policy is going to change it is people like that who are going to have to change it. At what level have they met with people within the Government? It is important that they are brought into the process. I agree with Deputies Maureen O’Sullivan and Breathnach that there is a lot of common sense in what the witnesses have said. We would appreciate that change in policy. There are victims right across these islands and survivors. While the Dublin-Monaghan bombings understandably get a lot of attention, there were bombings in Cavan as well and families bereaved and children who died as a result of that. The pain of those families is the exact same as that of Jonathan Parry. Anybody who has lost a loved one knows what it feels like to be a victim. To that end is there any progress on the definition? As to the recent revelations around some of what happened in the North and the impact on victims, could the witnesses talk about how people are feeling as a result of that? It is interesting what they say about the Government using redaction on the grounds of national security. We have long held that view. I have been to coroners’ courts for inquests where it is clear that that is happening. When we talk about the financial cost of inquests, they would not be as expensive if the British Government did not spend as much money trying to keep the truth from the families. After more than 25 years we recently had the case of the Mallon family finally get to the inquest stage. The coroner basically said that no evidence of collusion was found. In his opening remarks he described the litany of attempts that were made to either destroy that evidence or to hide it. So while no evidence was found understandably because it was all gotten rid of, there was a family who came through the inquest after decades of waiting only to feel probably worse than they did before they went into it. So there is an awful lot of pain and hurt out there. I recognise that. We have all been through the conflict. I was diagnosed with PTSD in 2013 as a result of it so there are a lot of damaged people out there. I am glad that mental health featured so heavily in the report. We have to look at the wider societal issues, the impact that we have, both on prescribed drugs, on suicide rates and all of that. There is still an awful lot of hurt. If it is not tackled and dealt with properly then that hurt will continue to be generational and that pain will be felt for years to come. I thank the witnesses for coming and for giving us their time.