Victims Commissioner Joe McVey made the comments to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee.
Victims and survivors of the Troubles are “key to reconciliation” in Northern Ireland, a Westminster committee has heard.
The region’s Victims Commissioner Joe McVey also said it was “unfair” how those who suffered most had previously been told draw a line under the past.
He also warned that it is a contradiction to talk about reconciliation when paramilitary groups remain active, killing and injuring people.
He was speaking to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, which is currently probing the Government’s approach to dealing with the legacy of the Troubles.
On the same day military veterans staged a protest outside Parliament over the Government’s Troubles Bill.
It is set to replace the previous government’s controversial Legacy Bill, and will shut down scores of inquests into incidents from the Troubles.
The Bill, which Parliament will consider this autumn, is to include major reforms of a body tasked with investigating unsolved Troubles murders, the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).
Mr McVey told MPs that victims and survivors are “some of the most forward-looking, resilient individuals you could ever hope to meet”.
“I think rather than see victims and survivors as a barrier to reconciliation, I think victims and survivors are a key to reconciliation, and I think that needs to be recognised,” he said.
“We’re here to try and build a better place. These are the people that I think are the key to making our place better.
“I’ve heard the concern from victims and survivors that reconciliation somehow sits on their shoulders, and that victims and survivors would, in some cases, have been advised over the years, ‘if you just go away and draw the line things would be grand’.
“That’s completely unfair. Reconciliation is a societal issue, and it requires a number of elements to be in place before we can say we’re reconciled.
“Some of those are in the gift of victims and survivors, but I think a lot of them are in the gift of politicians in terms of political leadership.
“They’re also there in terms of how society is managed and supported.
“It’s also there in terms of how we deal with paramilitary influences.
“So there’s a whole range of societal elements I think have to be in place, as well as ensuring that we understand the needs of victims and survivors now and going forward.”
He added that it is a “contradiction to talk about reconciliation when paramilitaries are still active”.
“I think from 1998, I think we’ve had 150 deaths attributed to paramilitaries,” he said.
“We’ve had hundreds of people injured and continue to be injured, and we also have intergenerational trauma. If paramilitaries are active in communities and actively recruiting, consider the damage that does on young people’s lives and and their prospects.
“I think we’re at a crossroads point at the moment in terms of how we have dealt with paramilitaries, how we perceive them, how we have supported them – if that’s the right word – at the cost of communities.
“I don’t think you’d ever reconcile society when paramilitaries are still actively involved.”
He also recommended a strong victims and survivors group for the reformed ICRIR to ensure they are “at the heart of this” instead of being viewed as a “last thought”.
