The buck stops with you, Arlene

Baroness Paisley slams DUP over Stormont crisis

THE widow of DUP founder Ian Paisley yesterday blamed the party for the power-sharing impasse at Stormont.

Baroness Paisley did not name leader Arlene Foster, but said if the minister in charge during the Renewable Heat Incentive scandal had stepped aside Northern Ireland “would not be in the mess we are in”.

She added: “If you are a minister and someone in your department is wrong the buck stops at your desk.

“You have got to do what is right and stand down from your position until the matter is sorted out.

“If that had been done at the beginning, there would have been a very different situation than the one we are in at the minute.”

Mrs Foster was the minister in charge of the Stormont department which ran the overspending “cash for ash” scheme.

She refused to stand aside while an investigation was carried out. She has not been accused of any wrongdoing but the role played by DUP ministerial advisers has come under scrutiny.

Mr Paisley, who died in 2014, led the administration at Stormont along with former Sinn Fein deputy first minister Martin Mcguinness.

Baroness Paisley said the current deadlock is “heartbreaking”.

She told BBC Radio Foyle politicians should cut out the “nonsense and lies and start anew”. She said: “If they had followed the example the late Martin Mcguinness and my husband set for them this would not have happened.

“They would not have got into this mess in the first place.”

Baroness Paisley said politicians were “hiding from the truth” and people in Northern Ireland needed “proper government”.

She added she did not see the need for a standalone Irish Language Act. Hundreds of young people ensured an increase in activity at Stormont yesterday with “respectful” discussions on sectarianism, racism, voting age and mental health.

The second sitting of the Northern Ireland Youth Congress has been praised for showing politicians the way forward. SDLP Children and Young People spokesman Colin Mcgrath commended the young leaders who “would outshine many MLAS”.

If minister had stood down Northern Ireland wouldn’t be in the mess we are in BARONESS PAISLEY BBC RADIO FOYLE