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RHI inquiry drama to continue as Arlene Foster and ex-Spads give evidence

DUP leader Arlene Foster and former party special advisers John Robinson, Stephen Brimstone and Timothy Johnston
DUP leader Arlene Foster and former party special advisers John Robinson, Stephen Brimstone and Timothy Johnston DUP leader Arlene Foster and former party special advisers John Robinson, Stephen Brimstone and Timothy Johnston

THE DUP is expected to come under intense pressure this week with party leader Arlene Foster and three former special advisers set to appear before the RHI inquiry.

Mrs Foster, who will give evidence tomorrow, is expected to face more scrutiny this time in light other witnesses' evidence since her first inquiry appearance in April.

There have been questions over whether the DUP leader was aware of former special adviser (Spad) Timothy Johnston's alleged role in delaying RHI cost controls.

Mrs Foster told the BBC in December 2016 that Mr Johnston had no role in delaying cost controls.

But earlier this month Timothy Cairns, another former DUP Spad, told the inquiry he had informed Mrs Foster of Mr Johnston's involvement the day before the interview.

DUP leader Arlene Foster will appear before the inquiry again on Tuesday
DUP leader Arlene Foster will appear before the inquiry again on Tuesday DUP leader Arlene Foster will appear before the inquiry again on Tuesday

Mr Johnston – a former Spad to three DUP first ministers including Mrs Foster, and now the party's chief executive – will give evidence on Friday.

He is set to face questions over the claims that he was involved in delaying RHI cost controls, which he denies.

The DUP's director of communications John Robinson, a former party Spad, will appear on Wednesday.

Mr Robinson stood aside from any involvement in the RHI scheme after it emerged his father-in-law was an RHI scheme recipient.

The inquiry will also hear on Wednesday and Thursday from former DUP Spad Stephen Brimstone. Both he and his brother Aaron benefited from the RHI scheme.

In June, a civil servant told the inquiry that Mr Brimstone phoned him to ask about getting a boiler registered. It was claimed he gave his name but did not say he was a DUP Spad.

Stuart Wightman, the head of the energy efficiency branch in the Department of Trade, Enterprise and Investment, said he remembered the call for being "quite unusual" and believed Mr Brimstone "referenced Andrew Crawford", another DUP Spad.

"At that stage, I just thought it was a general applicant, so I would just have treated the telephone call like any other applicant wanting to find out how to apply for either scheme and I talked him through the process and referred him to the website and so forth," Mr Wightman said.

He added: "So there was nothing unusual, apart from the start of the telephone conversation.

"But the name Brimstone, afterwards, I sort of recognised, 'I know that name,' and it was subsequent to that I realised who he was, a special adviser."

As a Spad to former DUP minister Nelson McCausland, Mr Brimstone was at the centre of a Stormont inquiry into claims of political interference in the Housing Executive (NIHE).

In 2013, he was accused of bullying colleague and DUP councillor Jenny Palmer by telling her to change her vote on the NIHE board in relation to a contract involving Red Sky, a firm which later went bankrupt.

Mr Brimstone denied any wrongdoing and the incident resulted in Mrs Palmer defecting to the UUP. Mr Brimstone was then promoted to the first minister's office.

In November 2016, Mr Brimstone left his £92,000-a-year post to pursue a career in the private sector.