NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph
25 FEBRUARY 2015
Our Inspirational Woman of the Year winner, who led the campaign for an institutional abuse inquiry in Northern Ireland tells Stephanie Bell how a hunger for justice transformed her into a victims’ champion
Margaret McGuckin faced a battle of David and Goliath proportions when she took on the might of the Government and Church to secure justice for victims of institutional abuse. The campaign, which began with her collecting signatures in 2008, took on a life of its own as thousands got behind her petition. Margaret’s will of steel saw her successfully lobby parliament to secure all-party support for an inquiry.
The Northern Ireland Institutional Abuse Inquiry started in January and has dominated headlines throughout 2014 with victims telling their stories of the truly horrific physical and sexual abuse meted out to them in care homes.
Margaret, who was joint winner along with the late Una Crudden of the Belfast Telegraph Inspirational Woman of the Year 2014, played a huge role in securing the inquiry.
But her work is not over yet.
Now through the group she helped form – Survivors and Victims of Institutional Abuse (SAVIA) – she is currently campaigning to ensure that the Government now takes action to meet the needs of victims, many of whom are in their seventies and eighties.
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