£10k for civil servant upset by looking at portraits of Queen
A ‘ BIGOTED’ and ‘opportunistic’ civil servant in the Northern Ireland Office was secretly paid £10,000 compensation because he was offended at having to walk past portraits of the Queen, a peer has revealed.
The civil servant complained under human rights legislation that he should not have to work in an office which featured paintings of Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh.
Former Ulster Unionist MP Lord Maginnis exposed what he called the ‘scandalous episode’, telling the House of Lords: ‘ The portraits were removed and the offended party, a Mr Lee Hegarty, was consulted on what should replace them. He suggested that the portraits of Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh should be replaced with photographs of, at best, the Queen meeting people during engagements in Northern Ireland.’ One replacement photograph featured the Queen shaking hands with the former deputy first minister and ex-IRA leader Martin McGuinness in Belfast. Lord Maginnis, 81, said: ‘I do not mind that. What I mind is that the case brought by the complainant was settled secretly and that the sum of £10,000 was handed over, presumably for hurt feelings and distress.’
The then Northern Ireland Secretary, Tory MP Theresa Villiers, who held the post from 2012 to 2016, signed off the settlement, the peer said. He added he had been told she did so on the recommendation of her permanent secretary Jonathan Stephens.
Lord Maginnis said: ‘I have been told to look at the annual accounts to find out where the money came from – but it is not to be found. That should concern us.’
After some time had passed after compensation was settled, Mr Hegarty, who had worked in the Northen Ireland Office for between 15 and 20 years, was promoted to accounting officer of the Parades Commission, he added. Lord Maginnis said Mr Hegarty’s treatment contrasted with the years of delay in compensating victims of historical institutional abuse in Northern Ireland.
He said: ‘I urge the NIO... to expedite payment of the comparatively paltry compensation due to the people... more deserving than this opportunistic civil servant who, surely, must now be compromised... because of his bigoted stance over the Royal Family.’
An NIO spokesman said: ‘The government takes its obligations under fair employment legislation very seriously. We will not comment on individual personnel matters.’ The Parades Commission declined to comment.