A conference for victims of the Troubles focusing on trauma opens today in Templepatrick, Co Antrim. It will be chaired by Senator Bob Kerrey, who has been involved in similar work in the US.
Senator Kerrey was disabled in the Vietnam War and has highlighted the plight of Vietnam veterans. There will also be speakers from Latin America and South Africa. The two-day "Remember and Change" conference is being funded by the EU Peace and Reconciliation Programme.
Ms Avila Kilmurray, director of the Northern Ireland Voluntary Trust, which provides funds to victim support groups, said: "Given the fact that many victims feel that they have largely been ignored within our society over the past 30 years, I was particularly keen to obtain a figure of stature to chair our conference.
"Senator Bob Kerrey is a politician not only of stature but of enormous courage and personal endeavour. "It is largely as a consequence of medical research in the aftermath of the Vietnam War that we have learned of the long-term impact of trauma on the lives of victims, survivors and their families. Posttraumatic stress has long-term implications for our society . . . but there is also a need for victims/survivors of the Troubles to have access to a sense of truth and fairness.
"It will be useful to learn from the American experience on how survivors can best organise to help themselves and what more society can do to assist in the process of healing and recovery."