Charity No XR28306

VAST

Victims Minister gets VAST advice on the Falls Road Des Brown (left) listens to VAST chairperson Breandan Ó Lochlainn on Tuesday Story by: ANTH0NY NEESON Victims Minister Des Brown met with victims group VAST on Tuesday afternoon at their Falls Road offices. While the PSNI swamped the area outside the VAST complex, inside Mr. Brown was pressed on matters which are of utmost importance to the Victims group and according to VAST spokesman Breandan Ó Lochlainn the hierarchy of victim hood was top of the agenda. However, according to Breandan the very fact that a British minister met with people whose loved ones had been murdered by the British Army and the RUC was groundbreaking in itself. “We invited him here so we could talk to him face to face about matters which our group think are very important he said. Among these would be the hierarchy of victims. Kenneth Bloomfield’s report into victims couple of years ago recommended special funding to RUC widows. This suggests that the RUC are worth, more than everyone else who lost their lives. “Mr Brown told us that he will be launching his own proposals in the coming weeks. However, it seems that the special funding for RUC widows will stay “He has met with over 31 different victims groups in recent months, so it was a very worthwhile meeting, getting our point across to him. “I suppose it was amazing in itself that a British minister was in the heart of West Belfast at a time when unionists are saying that the IRA ceasefire is almost over. This shows just how ridiculous this is, especially when you take into account Quentin Davis’ recent visit to Crossmaglen.” and Mr Ó Lochlainn said he hoped this wouldn’t be the last meeting that VAST would have with the minister. “Fifteen members of our group met him and it was a very worthwhile engagement. We didn’t hold back on-our views and he is very aware of our position. Hopefully this will not be the last meeting between ourselves and the victims minister.”

Top