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Stormont\u2019s Executive Office has been urged to act over a closed fund for recognition payments for the bereaved.<\/p>\nStormont\u2019s Executive Office has been urged to act over a closed fund for recognition payments for the bereaved.<\/p>\n
Kenny Donaldson of the victims group Seff has questioned the delay in reopening the scheme which closed to new applications in March 2017.<\/p>\n
It included an annual payment made to a spouse or partner of someone who was killed, in recognition of their loss, as well as payments for parents of victims.<\/p>\n
Mr Donaldson said he understands that both First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O\u2019Neill are supportive, and questioned the \u201cparalysis\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis matter needs to be prioritized, those who did not submit an application by the arbitrary deadline must be able to have an opportunity to apply now and finally receive acknowledgement for the loss they suffered in having a loved one murdered or killed as a result of the terrorist campaign,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Tina Smith, whose husband Corporal Stephen Smith (30) was killed in an IRA blast in then West Germany in 1989, is among those backing the call.<\/p>\n
Three other women \u2013 the widow of a soldier killed in the Hyde Park bomb, the widow of a murdered Garda sergeant and a Co Tyrone woman who lost three members of her family have also spoken out in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
Corporal Smith of the First Royal Tank Regiment, was killed on July 2nd, 1989 after a booby-trap bomb had been attached to his car parked outside his apartment in Hanover.<\/p>\n
It was then part of a wider campaign by the Provisional IRA targeting UK military personnel in Europe.<\/p>\n
That saw 15 killed, including Sir Richard Sykes, British Ambassador to the Netherlands, Belgian banker Andre Michaux, and soldiers Mark Coe, Richard Michael Heakin, Major Michael Dillon-Lee and Maheshkumar Islania of the RAF along with his six-month-old daughter Niurati.<\/p>\n
Mrs Smith and the couple\u2019s four young children (Louise, Leanna, Jade and Lee aged between 18 months and 11 years) were also badly injured in the attack.<\/p>\n
They had been planning a day out at a local festival.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the PA news agency from her home in the south of England, Mrs Smith recalled waking up in a hospital in the UK.<\/p>\n
She was refused a house by several local authorities due to fears over what she had been through.<\/p>\n
Their possessions, after 13 years living in West Germany, were sent over later, but she said she lost her support network of friends in the army.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you are in the armed forces, you\u2019re in a unit and you are a family so everyone knows everyone, kids all grow up together,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut after what happened, I felt abandoned, it was horrible.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were promises, \u2018we\u2019ll always be there for you\u2019, but obviously that never happened.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking back, it was a struggle. I hadn\u2019t done anything wrong but I wasn\u2019t able to get a house (from the local authorities), it ended up feeling like I was begging.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one asked did I need to talk to someone. There was nobody that I could say how I was feeling to, no one there to guide me. I felt dumped in the gutter.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not pity you are looking for, it\u2019s someone to ask, should I be doing this, because you\u2019re not prepared for living on your own, bringing up the children. It wasn\u2019t what I expected my life to be like. You have to live with that for the rest of your life, there is no bringing them back.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo then I clamped up and went with it. Inside I was screaming, wanting someone to listen to me but I didn\u2019t know to express that. I\u2019m still not being heard now.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to the doctor, because I still have flashbacks, he said you have got PTSD and sent me for counselling, but they said they weren\u2019t qualified to help me. I just wanted someone to help put my mind back together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mrs Smith backed the call for applications for the bereaved scheme to be reopened as recognition for what her family has been through.<\/p>\n
The Executive Office responded with a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cMinisters are committed to meeting the needs of bereaved victims and survivors,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWork on the development of options for Ministerial consideration is at an advanced stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has benefited from important contributions from families and advocacy groups along with the Commission for Victims and Survivors and the Victims and Survivors Service.\u201d<\/p>\n