Abstract
Victimhood remains one of the most contested topics of the Northern Irish peace process. While debates surrounding definitions continue, nuance has crept into the political discourse surrounding the place of victims in society. The 2013 Special Advisors (SpAd) legislation, for example, deals with the accountability of government to victims; on the other hand, reforms to service provision have transformed the relationship of victims with the state. There have also been various calls to reposition victims in regard to broader political developments: in late 2013 the Attorney General advocated ending judicial pursuit of unresolved murders, while the talks process chaired by the American diplomat, Dr Richard Haass, suggested a new ‘civic vision’ for (in his words) ‘contending’ with the past. This chapter explores recent representations of victims and victimhood in Northern Irish drama and film. Focusing on Martin Lynch’s 2013 play Meeting at Menin Gate and the 2013 film A Belfast Story (dir. Nathan Todd), this chapter suggests that despite their ostensible mainstream elements both work to trouble the parameters within which the victims’ debate is taking place.
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Notes
- 1.
The use of the word ‘victim’ in this piece is reflective of the tenor of the debate. As I point out, my argument is that the term is being troubled and deconstructed by an emerging political dispensation.
- 2.
This is emphasised in Section 6, ‘Reconciliation and the Victims of Violence’: ‘It is recognised that victims have a right to remember as well as to contribute to a changed society. The achievement of a peaceful and just society would be the true memorial to the victims of violence.’
- 3.
A similar logic underpins the Report of the Consultative Group on the Past (2009), which uses the following quotation from Margaret Fairless Barber as its epigraph: ‘To look backward for a while is to refresh the eye, to restore it, and to render it more fit for its prime function of looking forward’ (Consultative Group on the Past in Northern Ireland 2009).
- 4.
- 5.
For instance, a recent Twitter video of a Sinn Fein MP making a ‘joke’ in a petrol station with a loaf of Kingsmill bread on his head precipitated outrage in many sections of Northern Irish society owing to the fact that it was posted on the anniversary of the IRA’s killing of ten Protestants in Kingsmill on 5 January 1976 (see Adair 2017; BBC News 2017).
- 6.
I wish to thank Martin Lynch and Greenshot Productions for making the script available to me.
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Lehner, S. (2019). Troubling Victims: Representing a New Politics of Victimhood in Northern Ireland on Stage and Screen. In: Armstrong, C.I., Herbert, D., Mustad, J.E. (eds) The Legacy of the Good Friday Agreement. Palgrave Studies in Compromise after Conflict. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91232-5_6
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