I have spoken with Alan Draper of INCAS today and discussed Quarriers.
We have reiterated our position to Alan that all processes undertaken/set up in Scotland by Quarriers and the Executive at any time are fully inclusive of all former Quarriers victims including those from the Court cases and any who wish to give oral or written testimony to the processes either by Tom Shaw or the Commission proposed by Quarriers. This includes the testimony of myself and my sister.
A question with regards INCAS has been put to me by a Journalist Colin Adams, which I copied Alan on earlier in the day and my reply is as follows:
"I previously was a member of INCAS but due to the fact that I believed the Tom Shaw remit is too narrow decided to pursue our own goals and set up our own group FBGA for the sole benefit of those abused in Quarriers Homes as we had been requested by a number of Quarriers Homes victims of abuse.
With regards INCAS I am not currently a member of INCAS neither are the majority of our group we solely represent those abused in Quarriers Homes down the generations as we have specific knowledge of that organisation and the abuse perpetrated on former children and its inner workings down the generations.
We represent a wide range of individuals all previously brought up in-care in Quarriers and abused with a number of the groups victims cases proven in court and upheld in the Appeal Court.
We have no other former children in-care from other organisations in our group.
We set up our own group, as we believed we were best qualified to represent our own and others interests.
As our group name and website states we are:
'The former boys and girls Abused of Quarriers Homes.'
As a group we firmly believe that it is incumbent on the Scottish Executive to set up a full Inquiry/Commission into the Historical Abuse issues of Quarriers Homes and we will continue to campaign on these specific aims until our goal is met or as an independent group our membership decide otherwise.
No other organisation to our knowledge has had as many ex-employees convicted in the courts.
We are deeply disappointed that the Minister Peter Peacock has turned down the request from Mr Phil Robinson the Chief Executive to initiate any inquiry/commission into Quarriers Homes of the past.
We will be guided by our own aims and not represented by others we are well capable of representing all those in our group at ever level and at any time.
We have in the past supported fully the aims of INCAS and continue to do so and thank them for giving us their past support but due to different strategies on how to achieve our specific goals in relation to Quarriers Homes and our campaign for a Full Judicial Inquiry we parted company amicably and with their full support.
We believe Quarriers should engage their own victim survivors of abuse within their own past organisation to find solutions which will benefit the victims allowing for closure.
In relation to Quarriers proposing a conference on Historical Abuse with the involvement of INCAS and others we the Quarriers victims would not presume to represent those victims abused within Catholic Homes in the past or other organisations.
We would also like to see the full inclusion of different victim/survivors groups representing all Historical Abuse victims in any proposed conference.
We are in a better position to fully understand the needs and the issues of the children abused in Quarriers Homes, better than anyone within INCAS or any other support group.
We will be representing these former children of Quarriers Homes at the Media vs. Childrens rights to be held in Bath on Friday the 11th November 2005 organised by Quarriers.
We will be more than willing to take part in any conference in relation to Historical Abuse with other victim/survivor support groups including INCAS organised by Quarriers to debate fully the issues but believe also that this should include a wide spectrum of the groups involved in the issues both South and North of the border including legal representatives and academics and overall the victims of abuse.
We believe that at this stage perhaps it would be more advantageous for all the organisations and a preferred route that those groups involved in victims/survivor issues to organise their own conference out with the previous organisations but can see the benefit of engaging with these care organisations and other groups involved in the issues of historical abuse to the benefit of the victim/survivors at some stage in the process.
This issue is something that we have raised with colleagues and is currently under consideration and has been discussed here in the South among some support groups already."
Yours Sincerely,
David Whelan,
FBGA: Former Boys and Girls Abused in Quarriers Homes
cc Colin Adams
cc INCAS Committee