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First Victim

Mark Devenport | 17:52 UK time, Tuesday, 29 January 2008

Could the first victim of the new Victims Commission be a humble NI Executive press release? The Ulster Unionist Stephen Warke complained to me about the biographical material accompanying the first statement by the Commissioners designate because it described the brother of Commissioner Patricia MacBride as "an IRA volunteer" killed "whilst on active service". The unionist argued that the use of the term "volunteer" legitimised the IRA campaign and could be deeply offensive to victims.

But when I searched for the "Statement issued by the Commissioners Designate for Victims and Survivors" on the NI Executive site it had disappeared. All I could see was "WebEngine error: Page not found!"

I am not sure if the statement's disappearance is connected, but I can predict this will not be the last disagreement about terminology that the Victims Commission will have to deal with.

°ä´Ç³¾³¾±ð²Ô³Ù²õÌýÌý Post your comment

  • 1.
  • At 06:54 PM on 29 Jan 2008,
  • Martin wrote:

Another Civil Service blunder. What all does a Press Officer do? Feed the media with the company line.

  • 2.
  • At 11:46 PM on 29 Jan 2008,
  • Pandora wrote:

A SECOND SOURCE…

The mysterious disappearance of the Statement issued by the Commissioners Designate for Victims and Survivors from the Internet is in part reproduced in this morning’s News Letter in an article by Colin O’Carroll with a comment by William Frazer of FAIR.

  • 3.
  • At 09:49 AM on 30 Jan 2008,
  • Stevie wrote:

Is this the same Stephen Warke who threw a public hissy fit on Slugger because the UUP didn't make him their Dromore candidate?

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