Moral emotions, dealing with the past and recalibrating the relationship between victim and victimiser.

This paper explores how the moral emotions that victims feel towards their victimisers can change throughout transitional justice processes. Using extensive media coverage relating to the death of former Irish Republican Army (IRA) commander turned peacemaker Martin McGuinness, it interrogates how and why a personal investment in acknowledging past hurt and empathising with victims can recalibrate the moral lens that victimisers are viewed through by those impacted by their violence. The paper will explore how a more self-critical approach to dealing with the past by victimisers like McGuinness creates a new moral-emotional relationship where they are reframed by some victims as a peacemaking statesman and fellow-traveller in the peace and reconciliation process.