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DUP Win Victims Commissioner Sop
It seems I'm not the only one a little disheartened about the news of the appointment of Bertha McDougall as the Victims' Commissioner for Northern Ireland. It's nothing personally to do with Ms McDougall, as I know nothing about her other than she is the widow of an RUC reservist, murdered by the INLA in 1981 (according to the report). My worry is that it seems to have been a sop to the DUP. It's just another one of their emotive symbolic aims.
The issue is contentious. I'm not even sure how I feel myself about the creation of a Victims' Commissioner. On the one hand it's only fair that those caused the most hurt during the last 35 years are not forgotten, but the way this has been handled stinks of political posturing and populist bandwagon jumping by the DUP (let's face it, it's what they do best). It also reinforces the shocking MOPE mentality that somehow, as the Shankill Mirror put it, "We're all victims!"
I hope the Victims Commissioner works well and helps those who have lost loved ones through the tougher times (although is it not a bit late for that?) - but somehow, given past experience in Northern Ireland, I get the impression the office will be used as some sort of football as loyalists and republicans try to out-MOPE each other.