NCRR Steering Group affirms its commitment to survivor-centred decision-making and equal and inclusive memorialisation

The Steering Group for the National Centre for Research and Remembrance has published a report on the initial National Centre consultation, which ran last summer. This report was prepared by an independent research company. The Steering Group has also published a response document, thanking respondents and outlining its key commitments as the project moves forward.

The National Centre will honour everyone who spent time in Industrial Schools, Magdalen Laundries, Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions, Reformatories, and related institutions. The consultation sought views from interested parties to inform work on key elements of the project, including:

• the museum and exhibition space
• the research centre and repository of records related to institutional trauma in the 20th century
• the space for reflection and remembrance

The strongest message coming through the responses from survivors and former residents, and their families, was around decision-making. They want to be fully involved at every stage of the Centre’s development, and beyond.

The Steering Group recognises the importance of working in partnership with survivors and former residents, and its commitments include that:

• the Special Advocate for Survivors has joined the Steering Group
• there will be ongoing engagement and collaboration with survivors on co-creation of the exhibits in the Centre
• survivors will have a central role in the ongoing governance of the Centre
• the National Museum and National Archives will run in-person events so that interested people can hear about, and feed back on, international research and work to date

The first of these in-person events, run by the National Museum and National Archives, will take place later in the summer. These sessions will also involve the Special Advocate. If you’d like to register your interest in attending one of these sessions, please contact nationalcentre@equality.gov.ie

Your details will then be shared with the National Museum and National Archives for planning purposes.

Other themes that were reflected in the consultation included the need for: equal and inclusive memorialisation; an engaging, authentic and professional museum experience; truth, healing and support; the sensitive treatment of records; and a calm and reflective garden space. The Steering Group has made a series of commitments to address the issues raised under each of these themes.

The next major step in the project is to submit a planning permission application for the National Centre campus. It is hoped that this will be submitted later this summer.

The initial consultation on the National Centre for Research and Remembrance ran from July to September 2023. Almost 220 responses were received to the consultation, which were analysed by an independent research company and reflected in a report.

The consultation report and response document are available at: www.gov.ie/nationalcentre.

An infographic and video outlining the key themes and Steering Group commitments are available at the following links:

• NCRR Steering Group Commitments Infographic
• video

The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth holds an email contact list in order to issue updates to those with an interest in issues relating to the National Centre for Research and Remembrance. Anyone who would like their email address to be included on this contact list in order to receive future updates should send an email to nationalcentre@equality.gov.ie requesting that their details be included.

National Centre consultation – themes and Steering Group commitments

Survivor-centred decision-making and co-creation

The Special Advocate for Survivors has joined the National Centre Steering Group.

Survivors will have a central role in the ongoing governance of the Centre.

Equal and Inclusive Memorialisation

The Steering Group will work with survivors of different institutions to ensure that the Centre honours all survivors equally.

The voices of survivors will be at the heart of the Centre.

An Engaging, Authentic and Professional Museum Experience

The National Museum of Ireland will work with survivors to ensure that the Centre is authentic, engaging and grounded in real life experience.

Survivors will be fully involved in the co-creation of museum exhibitions.

Truth, healing and support

The Centre will be a trauma-informed environment, with supportive staff and dedicated times where the Centre is only open to survivors.

There will be outreach through local museums, travelling exhibitions and online access.

The Commemorative Grant Scheme will be expanded to provide dedicated grants to support survivors in other parts of Ireland and overseas to visit the Centre.

Treatment of records

The repository in the National Centre will be part of the National Archives.

National Archives staff will ensure a sensitive and caring environment for those accessing their records.

While supporting access, the privacy rights of survivors will be paramount.

A calm and reflective garden space.

The Chief State architect, who is overseeing the design of the Centre, will ensure the garden is a calm space with sheltered seating for private reflection.