Commenting on the decision of the Assembly Commission to reject a request for victims’ group SEFF to light Stormont red to mark European Day for Victims of Terrorism Jim Allister said:
“This persistence in again slighting the innocent victims of terrorism is appalling. Having failed to deliver on a pension for victims Stormont has now failed to deliver so much as a simple lighting of the building for one evening. The simple act of acknowledging, at no cost to the public, the hurt and sacrifice of countless victims in Northern Ireland and further afield was too much to ask.
“In repeated votes, the current Assembly has been keen to underscore its enthusiasm for all things European but while all of Europe acknowledges this significant date Stormont has chosen to snub it.
“I understand that the issue is that Sinn Fein refused to agree. It is important to underscore the fact that this is a calculated insult not just to victims of the IRA but victims of loyalist terrorists. I have hosted this event for many years at Stormont and we have always included victims of loyalist terrorism. This year is no different. One of the speakers at Thursday’s online event, Edward O’Neill, lost his father and was himself seriously injured in a UVF bomb in Dublin. There can be no question as to the event being one which is anything other than inclusive of all innocent victims.
“Sinn Fein chooses to snub all innocent victims because they refuse to acknowledge the fact that there is a fundamental moral difference between victim and victim maker.
“This is a telling insight into the “island of equals” they tell us they want to create.
“I do question as to when and why Sinn Fein was able to acquire the power to veto a decision such as this. Previously the Commission worked by way of a majority vote. When and why did the approach change to one of consensus, allowing Sinn Fein to hold such a veto?”
You can attend Thursday’s online event here.