Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“Today at question time I challenged the Infrastructure Minister about what he was doing about terrorist memorials on Road Service property. The lack of action on this matter is yet another example of how the feelings of victims are trampled upon in Northern Ireland and how they have been completely failed by a political system which panders to victim makers.
“I had little hope in a positive response from Chris Hassard as Sinn Fein are overseen by the IRA Army Council whose members are commemorated on many of these memorials. His inaction and complacency on the matter is, I suggest, born of empathy with the glorification of terrorists which these distasteful monuments represent.
“However, what compounded the contempt for innocent victims on the part of the Minister was his attempt to draw an equivalence between memorials to members of the security forces murdered during the Troubles.
“There is no parallel between the sacrifice of those who died seeking to protect life by confronting terrorism and those who lost their lives while engaged in activities which could have resulted in the loss of innocent lives and in some instances did.
“Yesterday I exposed the farce of the Executive’s claim to be dealing with paramilitarism when McGuinness denied the existence of the IRA. Today’s response by Minister Hassard underscores the reality that there is a pro-terrorist cancer at the heart of government in Northern Ireland.”