Time for a reparations programme for those bereaved during the Troubles?

Compensation schemes for criminal injuries have been practised in numerous countries for over 60 years. Northern Ireland in 1968 introduced a criminal injury compensation scheme to ensure that victims were not left with the burden of the harm and loss caused by criminal acts. However, with the onset of the ‘Troubles’ in 1969 and the deaths of thousands of people, the scheme was inadequate in responding to protracted violence that left many people unemployed or with multiple casualties in their family. This article outlines some of the findings of archival research on compensation claims during the height of the Troubles. It argues that basing the compensation scheme on income and dependence of a deceased loved one caused arbitrary amounts being paid to those killed in the same incident or in the same family. It also had sharp gender dimensions that discriminated against women and girls as both claimants and for their loved ones when they were killed. This article suggests that, to redress the inadequacies of the compensation scheme during the Troubles for those who were killed, a bereavement payment scheme needs to be established and it outlines some considerations on who would be eligible.