Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“There has been much commentary on the failure of this week’s agreement to deliver anything for victims. What seems to have escaped unnoticed, however, is the fact that rather than it being a Fresh Start for victims it contains a fresh insult to victims.
“Paragraph 3.10 of Section A states:
Support for Transition
- Initiatives to help moves away from paramilitary structures and activity.
- The reintegration of people previously involved in the Troubles taking into account the report of the Review Panel on employers’ guidance on recruiting.
“This a reference to the guidance for employers published by OFMdFM in March 2007 (see here http://www.ofmdfmni.gov.uk/1.05.07_ex_prisoners_final_guidance.pdf).
“The guidance stated that its “key principle” is:
“……that conflict-related convictions of ‘politically motivated’ ex-prisoners, or their membership of any organisation, should not generally be taken into account [in accessing employment, facilities, goods or services] provided that the act to which the conviction relates, or the membership, predates the Agreement. Only if the conviction, or membership, is materially relevant to the employment, facility, goods or service applied for, should this general rule not apply.”
“It goes on to explain what this means:
“In other words, a conviction arising from the conflict should not bar an applicant from obtaining employment, facilities, and goods or services unless that conviction is manifestly incompatible with the job, facility or service in question. The onus of demonstrating incompatibility would, in the view of the group, rest with whoever was alleging it and the seriousness of the offence would not, per se, constitute adequate grounds.”
“This amounts to special status and sanitising of pre-1998 terrorist convictions to the point where they are written off and the terrorist is treated as if he had never murdered or bombed or maimed. Of course, this is how terrorists are treated in our perverse government in Stormont, but now as a product of that and the agreement which its operatives have reached, they wish to extend the amnesty ideology to every job.”