Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“It is clear that the Finance Minister is unfit for office. He has failed to fully withdraw his slur about Paul Quinn, nor explain why he in later years denied having uttered the slur. There are many convicted criminals in the South Armagh area Mr Murphy is happy to associate with. In fact, he is one himself. Yet he chose to throw the allegation at the family of a young man brutally beaten to death and has failed to properly withdraw it.
“His motivation in the first place is clear to me: it was to take the heat off the IRA. This is a familiar Sinn Fein tactic, seen many times over the the years.
“No where else in the democratic world would such a minister be permitted to cling to office. Yet, in Stormont Sinn Fein brazen it out and the DUP leadership has nothing of substance to say. Expediency has replaced principle on both sides.
“Yesterday I tabled an Assembly motion calling on Murphy to consider his position and, following my proposal, the Committee which shadows Minister Murphy wrote to the Quinn family expressing our sympathy, commending their courage and condemning how the Minister conducted himself. The proposal was supported by all the Unionist and SDLP members of the committee with only Sinn Fein opposing the move. The Committee also agreed to write to the Minister questioning his fitness for office.
“As I said in the committee yesterday Sinn Fein are only offering any apology now because of the pressure they have come under in the Republic in the lead up to the election. There is nothing honourable about an apology which is extracted because of fear of lost votes. If Murphy really wants to help the Quinn family he will give the names of the PIRA terrorists he spoke to about Quinn murder to the police so that they can progress the matter.”