Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“Last week I secured a commitment from the Executive parties to publish the hitherto secret Stormont Castle Agreement during a debate on the Welfare Reform Bill. Today that document was placed in the Assembly library. As a result, we have had a further exposure of the DUP and UUP double dealing on parading.
“Paragraph 24 of the Agreement states that an Office for Parades, Selected Commemorations and Related Protests will be established as a non-departmental public body. A second body – an Authority for Public Events Adjudication – is also anticipated.
“The parties have included the details of the anticipated cost of the new bodies.
“Given that the public Stormont House Agreement contained a detailed section on parading and that we now know that the secret Stormont Castle Agreement even had worked out a budget for the rebranded Parades Commission no one can now seriously argue that the Unionist parties held to their pledge not to negotiate on parading until the North Belfast situation was resolved.
“How could anyone believe that the DUP and UUP could to be taken seriously by the Secretary of State in what they said about parading when they were sending her papers which patently showed that they were doing what they said they wouldn’t?”
Note to editors
The relevant section reads as follows:
Parades, Select Commemorations and Related Protests
24. An Office for Parades, Select Commemorations and Related Protests would be established as a non-departmental public body. It would accept event notifications, facilitate community dialogue and refer parties to outside mediators. An Authority for Public Events Adjudication would also be established as an independent regulatory body with seven members including a Chair. The Chair would be a legally qualified appointee overseen by NI Judicial Appointments Commission.
Office for Parades, Selected Commutations and Related Protests £1.2m per annum
Authority for Public Events Adjudication £0.8m per annum
Total cost £2.0m per annum
Less budget transfer from NIO (cost of current Parades Commission) £1m per annum
Net Cost £1m per annum