Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
PEER’S DISMAY AT £1OK ‘ROYAL OFFENCE’ PAYOUT
Maginnis hits out at ‘secret deal’ signed off by Secretary of State
A PEER has hit out at a £10,000 payment to a civil servant offended by portraits of the royal family while victims of historical abuse are denied compensation.
Lord Maginnis told the House of Lords Parades Commission that worker Lee Hegarty took the case under human rights legislation.
He said the portraits of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were removed following an alleged secret deal signed off by then Secretary of State Theresa Villiers.
Yesterday, Lord Maginnis told the Mirror: “The Northern Ireland Office are not saying it’s not true – they are wriggling.
“I have worked on this for some considerable time and eventually got enough to be able to bring it out in my speech. But if this has happened in this case, how often did it happen?”
Lord Maginnis has hit out at the NIO’S response to his questions on the matter, adding: “How on earth can a governmental department not be answerable in terms of what I’ll call hidden money?
“Where did the money come from? We are entitled to know.
“The health service is crumbling and schools are on the verge of bankruptcy.
“I am not at all satisfied with the answers but at least we have brought the hard facts before the public.
“Now it’s a question of pursuing the answer. One feels the Northern Ireland Office can’t get away with oblique answers that tell the public nothing.”
Speaking in the House of Lords on Wednesday evening, he said: “It has come to my attention that around £10,000 was paid in compensation to a civil servant who was offended at having to walk past portraits of Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.
“This individual, who had worked in the NIO for between 15 and 20 years, claimed under human rights legislation it was unfair to him to have to work where he was offended by portraits.
“The portraits were removed and the offended party, a Mr Lee Hegarty, was consulted on what should replace them.
“This settlement was signed off by the then Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers MP, on the recommendation, I am informed, of her Permanent Secretary Jonathan Stephens.
“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.”