Bear in mind these dead:
I can find no plainer words.
John Hewitt, Neither an Elegy nor a Manifesto.
Sir Kenneth Bloomfield has compiled a report on victims which combines compassion and common sense, sensitivity and sound proposals. The thrust of his report is that the people of Britain and Ireland have a moral and practical duty to assist the victims of more than 30 years of violence.
The pragmatists and the poets have a role in remembering the dead, and in helping the injured and the bereaved carry their burden of grief. The words of the poets, such as John Hewitt, whom he quotes, could "speak for all of us" in providing some form of spiritual memorial for the dead and injured, Sir Kenneth argues.
It is the responsibility of the British and Irish governments, with the support of the general public, to provide practical backup in terms of greater compensation, counselling and advice for victims of violence.
This report is not before time. For years small victims' support groups have complained of marginalisation, isolation and under-funding. There are many practical recommendations in Sir Kenneth's 68-page report, but perhaps what makes the document of greater importance is the powerful acknowledgement of the suffering of the victims.
At the very least victims must be accorded the same level of support and consideration as the prisoners, Sir Kenneth insists.
There is nothing wishy-washy in the document. It is carefully crafted, carefully worded and intellectually honest. There's real empathy for the victims. Even the title of the report, We Will Remember Them, is testimony to that sense of true feeling.
Should the Belfast Agreement provide the basis for a mainly peaceful political way forward in Northern Ireland it will take another generation or more for true reconciliation. Sir Kenneth, the Northern Ireland Victims Commissioner, deals with this difficulty in his recommendations.
Some sort of physical memorial is required to honour the victims. A Truth and Justice Commission might be a good idea. An annual memorial day to honour the dead, like Remembrance Day, might also be necessary. But not just yet.
A physical memorial such as, say, the Vietnam monument in Washington containing the names of the American dead of that war, could not be possible in Northern Ireland. To have the name of the IRA Shankill bomber, Thomas Begley, alongside the names of his victims creates a problem that does not even require explanation.
"In all of this I have been guided by a simple yardstick," says Sir Kenneth. "We have created victims through violence, and we have produced violence out of division. It follows, then, that any form of recognition likely to generate division rather than to foster reconciliation should be avoided."
But he nonetheless states that paramilitaries themselves are also victims. "In Northern Ireland we have to face the brutal fact that we have lived in a deeply divided society and that the victims include those who have been actively involved in the conflict."
Citing the Costs of the Troubles study, he calculates the number of dead since 1969 at 3,585 with scores more killed in the Republic, Britain and continental Europe. The number of injured is estimated to be between 40,000 and 50,000. Many of the injured or bereaved suffer a continuing "corroding sense of grievance", as anyone living in Northern Ireland will realise.
"Too many victims who came to public meetings to meet me expressed the view that in 15 or 20 or 25 years they had enjoyed no adequate opportunity to voice their feelings to any one representing, or close to, authority."
In broad practical terms Sir Kenneth wants more money for victims and their support groups, an ombudsman or "champion" to deal with their complaints, greater advice and counselling, a higher priority for the treatment of pain and trauma, a positive response from the paramilitaries in allowing the "exiles" home and locating the bodies of the "disappeared".
The Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, was quick to respond by appointing Mr Adam Ingram as Minister for Victims to co-ordinate the British government's approach to the issue. Sir Kenneth's proposals would need assessment and consultation, but she indicated they would be acted upon.
Dr Mowlam said that in the past week the British government had announced about £10 million for injured RUC members and victims in general. She saw this as a "down-payment" and expected "further developments on the financial front".
Generally, the response to Sir Kenneth's report was fairly positive. The danger, of course, is that if things settle politically the victims might again be sidelined. But Sir Kenneth, as former head of the civil service in the North, carries influence and weight, and the British government would not want to be seen pigeon-holing his proposals.
He and his family were lucky to escape with their lives when their home in north Down was badly damaged in an IRA attack 10 years ago. In his cover letter to Dr Mowlam accompanying the report of the Victims Commission, he portrays with power and poignancy how vital it is that the issue continues to be addressed with practicality and empathy.
"In more than 45 years of public service I have never been asked to undertake a task of such human sensitivity," he wrote. "The letters I have read and the stories I have heard in carrying out the work of the commission will be burned into my memory forever.
"I could only describe the task you gave me as a painful privilege."