Institutional abuse campaigner Jon McCourt has dedicated his award of the freedom of Derry and Strabane to the “lost and stolen” children and who suffered through abuse.
Mr McCourt, was formally awarded the Freedom of Derry City and Strabane District Council on Tuesday. The proposal to award the honour by People before Profit councillor Shaun Harkin received unanimous support from councillors present at Tuesday’s meeting.
Following the original proposal, unionist members triggered a “call-in” process, although they stressed the move was not personal against Mr McCourt.
The Derry man has previously spoken openly about his membership as a teenager of the Official IRA. He has also revealed that he previously turned down an MBE because he felt it would be wrong to accept it because of Bloody Sunday.
In his acceptance speech, Mr McCourt – who grew up in Derry’s Termonbacca home - described the award as an “amazing honour”.
He became highly emotional as he said: “It has been a long and unbelievable journey for a home boy (resident of Termonbacca) to have made.”
He paid tribute to everyone who had helped survivors of institutional abuse and recalled his own family, remembering his brothers, Eddie and Andy (who passed away earlier this year) as they left Termonbacca.
He also recalled the many young children who were taken from Ireland to be adopted by families abroad, most notably in Australia.
“Children who were stolen, sent to a foreign land thousands of miles from their homeland, most never to return to set hand on their own land, on their own earth. Children who were stolen, isolated, beaten and abused, believing that they were alone in the world; lied to, believing they were abandoned, rejected orphans.”
Mr McCourt said they were “signed off” to the other side of the world with the “full knowledge and blessing of the Catholic church”.
Earlier, councillors paid tribute to Mr McCourt. Mayor Patricia Logue praised his work for victims.
Ms Logue said: “He has been a model of courage and dignity in his tireless campaigning for justice for all those who experienced the horrors of abuse. Our community is a safer and fairer place thanks to his bravery.”
Mr Harkin said the award was “absolutely right”. The People before Profit councillor said Mr McCourt gave a “voice to people who were voiceless”.
“John has been a tremendous advocate and a tremendous voice, a dignified voice for the victims of historical abuse,” he said.
Leader of the SDLP on the council, Brian Tierney praised Mr McCourt’s “courage, strength and determination” while, for Sinn Féin, Emma McGinley described him as a “tireless campaigner for truth and justice”. Independent member, Gary Donnelly also paid tribute.
Previous recipients of the honour have included former SDLP leader, John Hume, musician, Phil Coulter and Derry Girls writer, Lisa McGee among others.
