NI: Stormont collapse forcing child abuse victims to resort to courts
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The collapse of the Northern Ireland Executive leaves victims of historical child abuse with “no alternative” but to seek redress through the courts, a lawyer has said.
Claire McKeegan of Belfast firm KRW Law told the Belfast Telegraph that the political deadlock meant the report of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry had been sidelined.
Ms McKeegan said: “Despite the HIA Inquiry recommendations that survivors of abuse are entitled to proper redress, the Government have yet to suggest let alone implement any such scheme.
“In the absence of any redress scheme with backing from the institutions and the state, we have no alternative at present than to advise our clients to issue and prosecute proceedings through the courts.”
She added: “It is a further wrong perpetrated on these victims to require them to wait indefinitely for compensation and the care and assistance that they are entitled to and so greatly need.”
Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire has accepted that the report’s recommendations are unlikely to be implemented soon.
In a letter to Alex Easton MLA, he said: “Given the current political situation in Northern Ireland, this is not likely to be imminently possible.”
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