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The campaign to get the Government to implement the Victims’ Payment Scheme has been taken to the House of Lords by Ulster peer, Lord Maginnis.

The former MP for Fermanagh-South Tyrone has tabled a Question asking what plans the Government has to intervene directly following the failure of the Northern Ireland Executive to implement and operate the scheme.

Lord Maginnis told the ‘News Letter’: “Putting the brakes on this scheme when it was about to be introduced late May was down to Sinn Fein.

“It is all part of their effort to re-write history and to create equivalence between genuine victims and the people who made them victims. It is dishonourable behaviour by those who ‘collar and tie’ remnants of PIRA.

“They must not be allowed to get their own way on this issue. Since the scheme cannot be introduced and managed by a devolved Government department in Stormont, then it must be taken back by our national Government and administered by London.

“There is no other viable option available. It is a shameful failure but it simply must not be held up any longer.

“I’m now asking Westminster to signal its displeasure with Sinn Fein’s cold-hearted antics and to announce that it will move to end the anguish of thousands of innocent victims in Northern Ireland.

“Let’s remember, this is a UK scheme, not solely affecting people in Northern Ireland. There are victims in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany and Spain, and it is no less than honourable that our national Government should be responsible for a scheme that will bring some financial relief to people who deserve to be treated fairly and with dignity.”

Full Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to (1) reports that the Northern Ireland Executive has failed to implement the Victims’ Payment Scheme for victims of terrorism successfully, and (2) the UK’s historical responsibility and involvement in the 1969–1994 counter terrorism campaign in Northern Ireland, what plans they have to take direct responsibility for the implementation and operation of that Scheme.

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The delay in the opening of the Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme is inexcusable and unforgivable.

After decades of campaigning for their right to redress, and with the promise of compensation secured, justice has been cruelly denied to victims and survivors of the Troubles. Those people now face an anxious wait to access funds and services. The urgent need for action is compounded by many survivors of the Troubles being elderly or in ill health.

It is entirely unacceptable that victims be forced to wait any longer while politics once again holds up the process.

The moral duty to compensate victims was signalled when the House of Commons agreed, without a vote, to the regulations establishing the fund. The responsibility now lies with the Northern Ireland Executive to begin payments as a matter of the utmost urgency.

That recompense is an important piece of the reconciliation process. Any further delay will not only continue the suffering of victims but could well sew further seeds of distrust in the ability of the political process to resolve such issues and deliver on the needs of local people.

Stormont is only just back up and running after a too long hiatus.  I know that local people are fed up of excuse and process they want to see delivery and action.

The current situation may be a ‘win’ for those who put political goals above all else.  It is in fact a failure to deliver mature public service and duty.  I do not believe the people of Northern Ireland should, or will, put up with such selfishness.

I expect (as do the cross party members of the House of Commons NI Select Committee) all parties to do all in their power to do right by victims immediately.

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A survivor of the PIRA’s La Mon atrocity 43 years ago has given a vivid and heart-rending account of the terrorist attack that left 12 people dead and 30 injured.

Billy McDowell and his wife, Lilly, were attending an Irish Collie Club Dinner when the incendiary bomb exploded.

Billy is supporting the Ulster Human Rights Watch (UHRW) and ‘News Letter’ campaign to get the Victims’ Payment Scheme introduced without further delay.

After the explosion, Billy said there was absolute panic as people tried to escape from the building that was engulfed in flames.

“I was swept outside by the escaping guests and realised that Lilly was still inside,” he said.

“The building was an inferno and no one would let me back in to search for Lilly. Sometime later, Joe Paxton appeared, carrying Lilly in his arms.

“She was almost naked and had horrific injuries, having been badly burnt. Someone wrapped a curtain round her and a stranger offered to take us to the Ulster Hospital as the ambulances had not arrived yet.”

Billy had a four-week stay in hospital where he had skin grafts for burns to my face, legs, arms and thigh.

Lilly was more severely injured.

Billy recalls: “Initially, it was uncertain if she would survive due to her burns and smoke inhalation. It was weeks before our children could visit.

“I could often hear her cry out in the next ward when getting the dressings changed or re-living the nightmare.”

Their youngest son was nine and he regularly cared for his mother when Billy was working shifts in the Northern Ireland Prison Service.

“This included changing medical dressings, applying ointment to burns and helping her into a two-piece, skin-tight suit especially designed for the treatment of severe burns.”

Lilly’s nightmares never left her and my son would often find her believing she was back in that burning room, crying and upset.

“In 2013, Lilly passed away but she believed that the Lord saved her that night and it was her faith that helped her through. I believe she was right.”

Decades after the La Mon atrocity, Billy is scathing of the role of politicians as victims continue to wait for payments.

“I think it’s disgusting the way we have been kicked around with the politicians. One tells you one thing, and another tells you another.

“I’m just as bitter now as I was 43 years ago….

“Lilly, being the Christian, she had a different view on it than I have, but I had no time for the politicians because of the way they treated us.”

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