The North's victims and survivors commissioners are about to hold their first public meetings, writes Bryan Coll
OF THE 309 pages in his recently published biography, Dr Alex Boraine, the former deputy chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), devotes a total of three to Northern Ireland. It's a concise summary of the relationship between the two countries, particularly South Africa's role as a post-conflict model for the North.
In 2006, before "dealing with the past" had entered the political lexicon of the North, Archbishop Desmond Tutu convened a mini-Truth Commission on BBC television, which saw relatives of people who died during the Troubles come face to face with those who had killed their loved ones.
This week, Northern Ireland's victims and survivors commissioners are holding their first series of public meetings. Yet as Northern Ireland takes its first steps in dealing with the legacy of the Troubles, many of those most closely involved in the TRC say applying the South African model may no longer be best option. "When I visited Northern Ireland, I got the feeling there was a hierarchy of victims," says Boraine. "You have to deal speedily with the problem. Get a move on so that life can continue and so people can't complain that the other side is getting a better deal."
While Boraine may advocate speed for Northern Ireland, some victims' groups in South Africa are critical of the perceived hastiness of the TRC, claiming it was carried out too early in the country's transition to democracy.
According to Fr Michael Lapsley, director of the Institute for Healing of Memories in Cape Town, there is an inevitable delay in victims coming to terms with trauma and being able to disclose their personal experiences of conflict. "It's often only when things are getting better that trauma comes to the surface", says Lapsley.
"People don't have the space to deal with trauma when things are really bad."
Lapsley believes Northern Ireland should avoid placing strict time limits on the work of the victims commissioners - something he believes has led to the marginalisation of victims in South Africa.
"In Northern Ireland, there need to be voices saying this is long-term stuff. You don't have to give it the same attention continuously for the next 100 years, but you should expect to revisit these issues from time to time," he says.
A common feature of the South African TRC and the early moves to examine the conflict in Northern Ireland has been the leading roles played by members of the clergy. With Archbishop Desmond Tutu at its helm, much of the language used to describe the work of the TRC was centred on the concept of forgiveness.
According to Seán O'Leary, an Irish priest based at the Dennis Hurley Peace Institute in Pretoria, this emphasis was often at odds with victims' desire to seek retribution for the crimes of apartheid. "The commissioners were divided as to whether the TRC was a spiritual or legal process," says O'Leary, who is currently working on a truth commission in Burundi. "That caused a lot of problems throughout the commission's existence."
Although all four of Northern Ireland's victims and survivors commissioners are lay people, the most prominent work on the legacy of the Troubles to date has been that of the Consultative Group on the Past, headed by Robin Eames, the former Church of Ireland Primate, and Denis Bradley, a former Catholic priest.
At a joint address in Belfast's Titanic Quarter last month, Eames and Bradley said that addressing Northern Ireland's past, "will require us to dig deep into our spiritual and moral values . . . which for many are found in faith. These give us a heritage where acknowledgement of wrongdoing and the giving and receiving of forgiveness are not signs of weakness but of great strength and courage".
As well as emphasising spiritual methods of coping with trauma, Eames and Bradley stated that victims of the Troubles would most likely be unable to pursue fresh prosecutions based on evidence provided in TRC-style public hearings.
"It is difficult for us not to listen to those experts who are telling us securing justice becomes less and less likely," they said. "The public needs to understand the limitations in securing convictions."
As the former National Legal Officer of the TRC, Hanif Vally's main role was to help South Africa's Truth Commission overcome legal obstacles. Yet Vally believes Northern Ireland's greatest challenge will be outmanoeuvring history, rather than judicial pitfalls.
"For truth commissions to work, there needs to be a common narrative and an agreement that there was fault on both sides," he says. "You're not going to win any arguments by saying my history is better than your history."
In Northern Ireland, where almost every aspect of history is so bitterly contested, establishing such basic truths might prove the most difficult challenge of all.