The Hillsborough Disaster will be added to the curriculum in Liverpool schools and its anniversary will be marked with a dedicated ‘Hillsborough Day’, after a motion was passed by the city council.
The motion put forward by Ian Byrne, Labour MP for West Derby and a city councillor for Everton ward, proposed the annual day to mark the disaster and move towards teaching the history of it in schools.
It passed unopposed at last night’s (January 26) council meeting and means that Liverpool City Council now supports aims of the 'The Real Truth Legacy Project’, which is led by Mr Byrne in conjunction with many Hillsborough families and survivors.
READ MORE: Six key things we learnt at a pivotal Liverpool Council meeting
The project aims to “ensure that current and future generations learn the truth about Hillsborough, and to ensure that schoolchildren in Liverpool City Region initially have access to a definitive account of the disaster and subsequent cover up.”
The passing of the motion means that every primary and secondary school across Liverpool will have a dedicated ‘Hillsborough Day’ on the nearest Friday to the anniversary of the tragedy on April 15, 1989.
Each school will take part in a special assembly to mark the anniversary, as well as learning more about the disaster and the fight for justice through dedicated teaching resources.
Mr Byrne - who survived the disaster on the Leppings Lane end when he was 16 - shared the news of the motion’s passing on Twitter.
He said: “Humbled & proud that my motion in support of an annual Hillsborough Day along with lessons on the disaster, the cover-up and the long fight for justice in our schools has today been passed by Liverpool City Council unopposed and with cross-party support.”
His tweet was met with positive responses, praising the motion.
The Liverpool branch of UNISON responded: "Congrats @IanByrneMP on a great speech tonight and the brilliant support you provide for your ward constituency and city".
Twitter user @KatieCapper said: "Fantastic. It should be educated across the land. I hope it widens the reach for true justice and accountability", while @Michelle_htimS replied to Mr Bryrne and said: "Well done Ian, a great piece of work!"
The Real Truth Legacy Project's ultimate aim is to add the history of the Hillsborough Disaster to the national curriculum.
It aims to ensure that schoolchildren can access a definitive account of the disaster and the subsequent cover-up - both of which were publicly acknowledged and apologised for in parliament by then-Prime Minister David Cameron in 2012, following the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel (HIP) report.
The HIP report was followed by fresh inquests in 2016 which found that the Hillsborough victims had been unlawfully killed, after hearing two years' evidence.
The 2016 inquests explicitly found that the behaviour of Liverpool fans on the day of the tragedy did not contribute to the disaster.
Mr Byrne added: “The support of Liverpool City Council on this crucial motion has hopefully set the ball rolling.
“We now hope to roll this out across the full Liverpool City Region and are optimistic of succeeding, given the positive response of the remaining five councils in the combined authority so far.”
"I am hopeful we will soon have every local authority in the Liverpool City Region on board as part of The Real Truth Legacy Project.”
"For many of the families and survivors, the education element is really important - so that makes it key for me.
"What we are doing on the ground in the Liverpool City Region will hopefully show other authorities across the country how to commemorate 'Hillsborough Day' and how to approach teaching school children about the disaster and the subsequent cover-up and campaign for justice.”
Mr Byrne, who also announced during last night's meeting that he would be stepping down from his council position, which he has held since 2018, thanked his colleagues for representing "the best people in the best city in the world", before adding "Justice for the 97."
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here
