Announcement by Sir Anthony Hart, Chairman on 6th March 2014

Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry
March 10, 2014

http://www.hiainquiry.org/index/latest-news.htm

“This morning I wish to announce that the closing date for applications to be made to the Acknowledgement Forum part of the Inquiry will be 1700 hours on Wednesday 30 April 2014.  So far 308 people have spoken to the Forum since October 2012, and another 105 still have to speak to it in the coming months.  Whilst the Inquiry is anxious that as many people as possible who wish to speak to the Forum will have the opportunity to do so, it is necessary to bring the Acknowledgment Forum application process to a close to facilitate the Forum informing the work of the Statutory Inquiry.

By 30 April the Acknowledgement Forum will have been accepting applications for over eighteen months, and the 30th April 2014 has been chosen as the latest possible date that will allow the Forum to see everyone who wishes to speak to it, and at the same time allow it enough time to prepare its report, because that report has then to be considered by the Statutory Inquiry when it prepares its report.

I want to emphasise that although applications to the Statutory Inquiry closed on 29 November 2013, those who apply to the Forum still have the opportunity to describe their experiences through the Forum, and as their evidence will be reflected in the report which the Forum makes to the Statutory Inquiry, in that way their evidence will still be taken into account by the Statutory Inquiry.

I urge anyone who wishes to describe abuse they suffered as a child under 18 while in any residential institution in Northern Ireland, but who has not yet made an application to the Inquiry, to apply to the Acknowledgement Forum as soon as possible, and in any event to send their application in sufficient time to reach us before the closing date, as applications which arrive after 1700 hours on Wednesday 30 April will only be considered in exceptional circumstances.”