The 2018 General Assembly authorised a Task Group to be set up to report and make recommendations to a special meeting of the Council for Public Affairs, with the authority of the General Assembly to act on its behalf in relation the Secretary of State’s public consultation ‘Addressing the legacy of Northern Ireland’s past’.

The resulting 2,800 word submission calls out both the deficiencies it sees in the current arrangements and also the limitations of the institutions set out in the consultation paper. At the same time it proposes revisions of the proposals in the consultation to enable them to be a means of improving the current arrangements, as the Church believes the status quo is not acceptable and a new approach is needed. It also warns that a rejection of the proposals will likely set the issue back for many years – if not forever - adding even more distress to victims and survivors.

The Church's submission is available to read here.

You can also read the news story here and Very Rev Dr Norman Hamilton's 19 September News Letter article here.