The University of Bath welcomed leading experts and family members who have been affected by the violence of disappearance during “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland for a collection of talks.
These were delivered by Sandra Peake, Chief Executive Officer of the Wave Trauma Centre in Belfast; along with an emotive testimony from Dympna Kerr, the sister of Columba McVeigh, who was one of 17 murder victims known in the regions simply as “The Disappeared”. Columba was 19-years-old when he vanished in 1975 and his body has never been found.
Also in attendance was Michael McConville, the son of Jean, whose disappearance following her forced abduction from the family home at the Divis flats in West Belfast has been the most profiled and documented of all the cases in the province. Jean’s body was later found in 2003.
Michael was accompanied by Shauna Moreland, whose mother, Caroline, was abducted by the IRA in the summer of 1994. Her whereabouts were initially unknown, until her remains were found a few weeks later dumped in a remote area near Roslea, Co. Fermanagh.
Sandra, a tireless campaigner for peace in the region and a lead advocate in addressing the trauma many in the communities faced during the troubles, spoke at length about the history of the tactic of enforced disappearances. She shared her experiences of the trauma it induces in family members who are forced to live with disappearance, which includes ongoing forms of dehumanisation and stigmatisation.
In turn, Dympna spoke of the reality of the suffering, and what it means to never find the body of a loved one and yet still the need to maintain a certain hope.
The event, which took place earlier this month, was hosted in the newly curated campus art space in The Chancellors’ Building, which features Chantal Meza’s State of Disappearance collection.
Commenting on the event, Professor Brad Evans who is the Director of the Centre for the Study of Violence noted:
It was an extraordinary honour and privilege to have Sandra, Dympna, Michael and Shauna join us as we continue to try and find ethically considered ways to speak about a form of violence that is so often marked by silence.
This was exactly the kind of event I also had in mind when we conceived of installing the state of disappearance exhibition, which shows how we can bring academic communities together with artists, policy makers and those deeply affected by the trauma of violence.
The talks were followed by a tour of the art collection for the invited guests and a number of students. This was provided by Chantal Meza, who spoke about how the situation in Ireland revealed a number of commonalities with the practice in her home country of Mexico.
Ireland’s Disappeared was organised by Dr Sophie Whiting (Department for Politics, Languages & International Studies) and Professor Evans, along with Dr Thomas Leahy from Cardiff University. The event was sponsored by the Centre for the Study of Violence, and the GW4 Alliance, who funded the Island of Ireland Contemporary History and Politics Network via the GW4 Building Communities Generator Fund.