Category: News; 91Èȱ¬ TWO; Northern Ireland
Date: 14.02.2006
Printable version
91Èȱ¬ TWO is to screen a groundbreaking three-part series which brings together victims and perpetrators of Northern Ireland's conflict, in the presence of Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
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At a press launch in Belfast the 91Èȱ¬ unveiled further details of the compelling encounters in Facing the Truth - to be shown in the week commencing Saturday 4 March.
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Each of the six meetings sees people from different sides of the conflict coming face to face with each other for the first time.
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The Archbishop oversees the meetings, enabling unprecedented dialogue between those responsible for violence and those who were hurt during the conflict in Northern Ireland.
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Tutu draws on his experiences to enable the individuals to tell their stories in their own words, face to face with people once considered adversaries.
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Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu - who led South Africa's post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission - is assisted at the meetings by two experienced facilitators.
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They are Harvard University's Donna Hicks, widely experienced in conflict resolution dialogue, and Lesley Bilinda, whose husband was killed in the 1994 Rwandan genocide and who went on a journey to try to find his killers and learn the truth about his death.
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Psychologist and trauma counsellor Nomfundo Walaza, former director of the South African Trauma Centre for victims of violence and torture, was also present.
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Nomfundo was available to support participants before, during and after the encounters.
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Local counselling was also in place for anyone who wished to access it. Contributors were also invited to bring family and close friends.
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Talking about his involvement in the programme, Archbishop Tutu tells presenter, 91Èȱ¬ News special correspondent Fergal Keane says: "... We had some extraordinary moments in the week or so that we were here where it was like something divine had intervened, and it was exhausting, but eminently exhilarating."
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Tutu adds: "... I think human beings are incredible... and I've seen examples here of the fact that it really is possible that we will see a resolution of the problems and people will say, as we did in South Africa, why were we so stupid for so long?
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"... I have a good sense that Northern Ireland is going to be held up one day as a place where we thought the problems were intractable and you see they were intractable - just look at how well they're getting on together."
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Facing the Truth includes a meeting between former Loyalist paramilitary Michael Stone and the widow and brother of a man he is convicted of murdering.
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Michael Stone became notorious when television cameras captured his gun and grenade attack on mourners at an IRA funeral in Milltown cemetery in 1988 killing three people.
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When questioned by police about the attack, Stone confessed to another three murders including that of Dermot Hackett.
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Other encounters in Facing the Truth include Clifford Burrage - a British soldier who shot and killed 22-year-old Michael McLarnon - and Mary McLarnon, the sister of Michael McLarnon.
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In the second programme Josette Foster, the widow of Walter Beard, and her daughter Vreny - together with former paratroopers Tom Caughey and Graham Eve - meet Joe Doherty.
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Walter Beard was killed in a double IRA explosion at Narrow Water in 1979. Tom Caughey was injured in the first explosion.
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Joe Doherty was convicted for the murder of the most senior ranking SAS officer to lose his life in the Northern Ireland conflict, Captain Herbert Westmacott, killed in May 1980.
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Speaking at the press launch in Belfast, Roly Keating, Controller, 91Èȱ¬ TWO said: "This is groundbreaking current affairs which explores a tough issue from a human, rather than political, perspective.
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"We're deeply honoured that Archbishop Desmond Tutu has agreed to take part in the programmes, as he is highly respected by everyone involved and a brilliant mediator.
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"It promises to be powerful event television and we've placed it in the heart of the 91Èȱ¬ TWO schedule for three consecutive nights to create maximum impact with as wide an audience as possible."
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91Èȱ¬ executive producer Jeremy Adams said: "At the end of filming, the participants all said it had been a worthwhile, even helpful experience.
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"We were waiting for the first person to say they wished they had never done it, but that didn't happen.
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"Some were astonished that, while painful, it had helped them move forward.
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"Desmond Tutu said it had been one of the most important things he had ever been involved in and that he too felt it offered a way forward.
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"I think there will also be amazement that a dialogue of this nature is possible at all and I hope that our six encounters will lead to a wider debate here about victims, justice and truth."
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Each of the encounters was filmed at a country house in Ballywalter, near Newtownards.
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Facing the Truth
- 91Èȱ¬ TWO
- programme one
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The first programme includes the case of Clifford Burrage - an army officer with the Green Howards.
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On 28 October 1971 Clifford Burrage shot and killed 22-year-old Michael McLarnon, near his family home in West Belfast.
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The Army claimed Michael McLarnon was a member of the IRA and was armed; his family has always denied this.
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In Facing the Truth Mary McLarnon, Michael's sister, meets Clifford Burrage.
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Facing the Truth
- 91Èȱ¬ TWO
- programme two
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More than half the murders of the Northern Ireland conflict remain unsolved.
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Programme two of Facing the Truth features three stories in which none of the victims has seen anybody convicted for the attacks which brought agony to their lives.
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In this programme, they have an opportunity to meet individuals who belonged to the organisation responsible.
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On 27 August 1979, 18 soldiers were killed in a double IRA bomb attack at Narrow Water near Warrenpoint.
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Tom Caughey of the second battalion of the Parachute Regiment was badly injured in the first explosion.
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Warrant Officer Walter Beard lost his life in the second explosion, designed to kill those attending the scene to help with casualties of the initial blast.
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Graham Eve assisted with the clear up operation.
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The explosions saw the greatest number of soldiers killed by the IRA in one day. There has never been any conviction in relation to the attack.
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Josette Foster, the widow of Walter Beard, and their daughter Vreny - together with former paratroopers Tom Caughey and Graham Eve - meet a man from the organisation responsible for Narrow Water, former IRA prisoner Joe Doherty.
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Joe Doherty was convicted of the murder of the most senior ranking SAS officer to lose his life in the Northern Ireland conflict - Captain Herbert Westmacott, killed in May 1980.
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Facing the Truth
- 91Èȱ¬ TWO
- programme three
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In this, the final of six compelling encounters, Michael Stone meets the widow and brother of a man he is convicted of murdering - a meeting in which both sides must face the truth.
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In an extraordinary and surprising encounter the Archbishop declares that "it is God who is present in this moment".
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Loyalist Michael Stone became notorious when television cameras captured his gun and grenade attack on mourners at an IRA funeral in Milltown cemetery in 1988, killing three people.
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When questioned by police, Michael Stone confessed to another three murders including that of Dermot Hackett, a Catholic man shot dead as he drove his bread delivery van.
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Michael Stone claims his target was legitimate because he was shown files that proved Mr Hackett was an IRA man, an allegation the family firmly deny.
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Notes to Editors
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There will be exclusive footage on 91Èȱ¬ TWO's upgraded broadband website - bbc.co.uk/bbctwo.
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Fergal Keane has interviewed each of the participants, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, about their experience, and his interviews can be viewed on the site, as part of the 91Èȱ¬'s TV Plus trials.
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MB/UC
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