Statement by TUV Comber councillor Stephen Cooper:
“Today’s joint statement by Michelle O’Neill, Paul Givan and Naomi Long about the victims’ pension scheme drips with irony and in the case of Michelle O’Neill rank hypocrisy.
“The pension for innocent victims was long delayed because of what a judge described as O’Neill’s “fundamentally inappropriate” actions and because she adopted a stance motivated by “political advantage”. The court found that the Executive Office had deliberately refused to designate a Department and thus stymied the implementation of the scheme in order to get the Secretary of State to change the scheme.
“Even after the Department of Justice has been nominated to administer the pension, the Sinn Fein Finance Minister dragged his feet when it came to allocating funding. Of course, many suspect that Sinn Fein were seeking to make including victim makers within the scope of the pension the price for paying it at all.
“Thankfully that did not happen but for O’Neill now to claim that she is “pleased” about the opening of the scheme is ironic to say the least. It is deeply hypocritical for her to talk about the “painful and difficult road” victims have had to travel when it was the wicked IRA which she continues not just to defend but celebrate which put most victims on that road. Not only that but she made that road all the more difficult by her “fundamentally inappropriate” actions in relation to the pension.
“How can Mr Givan and Mrs Long be happy to be included in the same press release? It is testament to the perverse nature of devolution under the Belfast Agreement that Sinn Fein were able to delay this pension for so long.”