Last week the five parties involved in the current talks were furnished by the Secretary of State with a copy of that part of the proposed Northern Ireland (Stormont House Agreement) Bill which deals with the establishment of the HIU. Now, a copy of the Bill has come into the possession of TUV, leading to some trenchant criticisms by Jim Allister.
Central to Mr Allister’s concerns is the pivotal role for the deputy First Minister in the hiring and firing of the Director of the HIU.
Under Schedule 2 of the Bill the Director, who will have full operational control of all HIU investigations, including powers to decide the extent to which particular deaths shall be investigated (Clause 7(2)), will be appointed, not by the Justice Minister, but by the joint First Ministers. Likewise, he can be removed by the joint First Ministers.
Commenting Mr Allister said, “It is repulsive to TUV, and I believe to innocent victims, that a self professed IRA commander should have the power of veto over who is appointed to oversee investigations of multiple unsolved murders by the same IRA. The IRA was the biggest killing machine throughout the terrorist campaign, yet, now it is proposed that one inextricably linked with that bloodthirsty campaign should determine who directs investigations into those murders. This is obnoxious and plain wrong. Shame on any party or politician who sanctions such a perverse approach. Some have already foolishly boasted of how good a deal the Stormont House Agreement represents for innocent victims!
“The Director of HIU not only has full operational control of all investigations, but can decide whether any particular criminal offence should be investigated (Clause 7(3)) and, very importantly, appoints the other members of the HIU (Sch 2), which can number from 3 to 7 persons.
“The appointment process for such a key person must not be tainted by any involvement by McGuinness. He is the last person who should be let anywhere near this process.
“It is such a perverse approach in this Bill, which will be even worse in respect of the Commission on Information Retrieval, that informs the conspiracy to keep this legislation out of the Assembly, where intense local scrutiny could take place, and instead pass it through Westminster, even though it deals primarily with devolved issues. The public, and particularly innocent victims, are at risk of having their eye wiped, again.”