It’s morally indefensible to block scheme: Donaldson
SIR Jeffery Donaldson has urged Michelle O’neill to follow the advice of a judge who suggested the Deputy First Minister should resign if she couldn’t comply with the law in relation to the Troubles victims’ compensation scheme.
The DUP MP told the Belfast Telegraph it was “morally indefensible” for Mrs O’neill to block the scheme’s implementation.
He was speaking after Mr Justice Mcalinden yesterday repeated his criticism of Mrs O’neill for her refusal to agree to designate a Stormont department to administer it.
On Monday, the High Court judge said Mrs O’neill’s stance in relation to the matter was “fundamentally inappropriate”, adding that anyone in a ministerial post who was not prepared to comply with the rule of law “shouldn’t be there”.
Accusing Mrs O’neill of deliberately choosing to “ignore the rule of law”, Mr Justice Mcalinden said if a minister had a difficulty complying with legislative requirements they had an option “to resign your office”.
The judge had expressed his “initial view” at the outset of a joint legal challenge brought by Jennifer Mcnern, who lost both legs in an IRA bombing in Belfast in 1972, and Brian Turley, one of the ‘hooded men’ who were arrested and interrogated by the Army in 1971. The judicial review is challenging the Executive Office’s failure to introduce the scheme.
It should have been open at the end of May, but has been left in limbo due to a dispute between Sinn Fein and the Government over eligibility criteria that would exclude anyone convicted of inflicting serious harm during the Troubles from accessing the support payments. Sinn Fein has claimed the scheme would be discriminatory and potentially exclude people from the republican community.
Sir Jeffrey said the Sinn Fein vice-president should carefully heed the advice of Mr Justice Mcalinden, who yesterday reserved judgment on the case and will deliver his verdict on Friday.
He stressed it is “morally indefensible” for Mrs O’neill to delay the scheme.
Asked if Mrs O’neill should resign, Sir Jeffrey said: “I’m saying that the Deputy First Minister should comply with the law and support the designation of a department within the Executive to take the pension scheme for victims forward.
“If she declines to do so, then she should consider the advice the judge has given her. I recognise that even if she were to step aside, Sinn Fein will simply appoint another minister who will take the same view.”
Sinn Fein would not be drawn on Sir Jeffrey’s call for the Deputy
First Minister to follow Mr Justice Mcalinden’s advice, but reiterated its opposition to the scheme, insisting it is “unacceptable”.
Sir Jeffrey added that in the absence of overall consensus within the Executive, Secretary of State Brandon Lewis may have to intervene in order to take it forward “so the victims can receive these much needed payments as quickly as possible”.
“It is morally indefensible that any minister would hold up this scheme when it has already been enacted in law.”
“I hope the Deputy First Minister will adhere to what the judge has said and if she refuses, then I think the stalemate has to be broken with the Secretary of State’s further intervention.”
He added Mr Lewis has two options — namely to take the scheme back to Westminster or intervene at Stormont and designate a department by changing the law.
“The preferred outcome is that
Sinn Fein lose their veto and this scheme is able to move forward,” he added.
Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly said: “There is a need for a scheme which not only acknowledges the hurt and suffering of all victims of the conflict but also meets their needs, including financial needs.”
He added: “The victims’ pension scheme cannot be exclusionary.
“The hurt and pain of all victims is the same.
“We are committed to seeing the delivery of a victims’ pension scheme which meets the needs of all victims and excludes no one.”
South Antrim DUP MP Paul Girvan said yesterday that the “disgraceful delay” caused by Mrs O’neill “will not continue”.
“We will not allow victim-makers to be treated the same as victims,” he said.
“It is time for the delay to end and for those victims who have been waiting so long, to get what is rightfully theirs.”