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Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said he is \u2018deeply concerned\u2019 by the findings (Jordan Pettitt\/PA)<\/p>\nAn independent review has described a \u201ctoxic\u201d and \u201cdivided\u201d working culture inside the body tasked to investigate unresolved Troubles cases.<\/p>\n
The appraisal of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) was commissioned following concerns about its effectiveness and culture.<\/p>\n
It found \u201ca clear risk that things will run out of control in the absence of clear unified leadership\u201d.<\/p>\n
Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said he is \u201cdeeply concerned\u201d by the findings which are \u201cunacceptable and falls below the standards expected\u201d.<\/p>\n
Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said he is \u2018deeply concerned\u2019 by the findings (Jordan Pettitt\/PA)<\/p>\n
All UK police investigations into Troubles-related killings were shut down in May 2024 under the previous Conservative government\u2019s Legacy Act and the ICRIR was established.<\/p>\n
Labour\u2019s Bill, agreed as part of a joint framework with the Irish Government, will put in place a reformed Legacy Commission with enhanced powers.<\/p>\n
The review of the ICRIR carried out by former Northern Ireland Civil Service permanent secretary Peter May identified that the organisation has been \u201cfacing significant problems\u201d linked to internal governance and culture at senior levels.<\/p>\n
These issues are said to be stemming from \u201ca combination of the governing legislation which creates structural weaknesses, problems with the financial management and governance of the organisation, and conflict among its senior leaders which is damaging the operation of the organisation and overall morale\u201d.<\/p>\n
The report said the issue of culture within the organisation\u00a0was \u201cthe most remarked-on element of this review during the meetings held with staff members\u201d.<\/p>\n
It describes a senior leadership team which has \u201cbecome quite divided in their approach\u201d and a staff base \u201cwho have become increasingly aware of the problems\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor staff, that has led to a loss of confidence in the senior team as well as for some to say they are considering seeking other roles or not seeking to extend secondments,\u201d the review says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn addition, many are disillusioned that what they had hoped to be part of was not meeting those hopes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report adds: \u201cDescriptions of the culture in ICRIR (and particularly relating to the senior team and their interactions) have included language like \u2018toxic\u2019, \u2018silo working\u2019, \u2018divided\u2019 and \u2018disrespectful\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe scale and nature of the issues reported are such that there is a clear risk that things will run out of control in the absence of clear unified leadership to set out what is and is not acceptable.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a result, urgent action is needed to grip the issues and address problem behaviours.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some of the behaviours outlined include \u201csenior leaders talking openly to staff about their concerns about members of the senior team and being negative about other senior leaders\u201d and \u201csurprisingly highly emotional responses to due process with people questioning motivations of those responsible for processes\u201d.<\/p>\n
Concerns are also raised in relation to the number of mostly senior women who reported being treated in ways that were \u2018\u201crude\u201d and \u201cdisrespectful\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn addition, some indicated they believed this behaviour to be gendered in nature \u2013 \u2018I would not be treated in this way if I was a middle-aged man\u2026\u2019 was one quote,\u201d the review reads.<\/p>\n
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Declan Morgan, Chief Commissioner of the ICRIR said he is \u2018deeply sorry that this has happened on my watch\u2019 (Liam McBurney\/PA)<\/p>\n
The May review also raised questions in relation to the ICRIR\u2019s finances, claiming its current funding and staffing levels are \u201cnot sufficient to support the commission\u2019s view of what is required under the legislation\u201d.<\/p>\n
This is said to be causing staff \u201creal concern that they will not have the means to deliver case outcomes within any reasonable timeframe and that in interaction with requesting individuals this is not sufficiently being explained\u201d.<\/p>\n
The report adds: \u201cThat is particularly the case now that some cases are being paused due to lack of resource to take them forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat problem is going to worsen as more cases are brought forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking following the publication of the independent review, the ICRIR\u2019s chief commissioner Sir Declan Morgan said the body\u2019s job is to \u201censure that accountability and justice are secured\u201d for Troubles victims and survivors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe acknowledge and regret the shortcomings identified in the May report. As chief commissioner I am deeply sorry that this has happened on my watch,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are committed to addressing this as we move forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to assure those that have come to us for help, that none of the recommendations in the review relate to our pursuit of individual investigations.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cOur investigations teams are working tirelessly for families that have come to us for help. We will soon reach the milestone of producing our first report and once we have reached that milestone, I expect a steady flow of reports over the months and years to come.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a young and developing organisation, and the independent review was jointly commissioned to provide a clear, objective assessment of the ICRIR\u2019s corporate effectiveness and cultural health.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere the review identifies actions and recommendations, these are opportunities for growth. Where it calls for improvement, we recognise the need for change and some of this is already underway.\u201d<\/p>\n
Benn said the ICRIR senior leadership team have \u201ca duty to uphold the organisation\u2019s values and those of the wider public sector to ensure victims, survivors and their families can have confidence in the organisation\u2019s ability to deliver\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am deeply concerned to see some of the findings in Peter May\u2019s review,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat has been identified is unacceptable and falls below the standards expected. It is for the ICRIR board to take whatever steps are necessary and appropriate to address this.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince receiving the findings, I have met each of the commissioners individually, and a joint ICRIR-NIO oversight committee has been established to ensure that the review\u2019s recommendations are swiftly addressed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The May review did say despite problems outlined there are \u201creal strengths in the work done to date in creating the commission\u201d and it \u201chas many good people committed to the mission of the organisation\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An independent review has described a \u201ctoxic\u201d and \u201cdivided\u201d working culture inside the body tasked to investigate unresolved…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":444222,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-444221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=444221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/444222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=444221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=444221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=444221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}