Opinion

ANALYSIS: Failure to resolve Troubles pension row is letting everybody down

Jennifer McNern outside Belfast's High Court as she began a court bid to secure a Troubles pension. Picture by Liam McBurney/PA Wire
Jennifer McNern outside Belfast's High Court as she began a court bid to secure a Troubles pension. Picture by Liam McBurney/PA Wire Jennifer McNern outside Belfast's High Court as she began a court bid to secure a Troubles pension. Picture by Liam McBurney/PA Wire

IT’S more than 48 years since Jennifer McNern lost both legs when a bomb ripped through the packed Abercorn restaurant in Belfast city centre.

Brian Turley is one of the "hooded men", scarred by the interrogation he endured in 1971 at the hands of the British army.

Both are among hundreds of Troubles victims and survivors who have waited a long time for a specially-devised pension yet they are being denied their entitlement due to a political row that appears intractable.

Sinn Féin argues that the criteria for the payments, which was legislated for at Westminster when the Stormont institutions were suspended, discriminate against former republican prisoners.

The party has refused to nominate a minister to administer the pensions.

In a bid to break the stalemate, Ms McNern and Mr Turley have sought a judicial review of the Executive Office's failure to introduce the scheme.

Mr Justice McAlinden was unequivocal yesterday in his assessment of where blame for the blockage lies, accusing Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill of an attempt to "subvert the rule of law for political ends”.

The judge was also critical of First Minister Arlene Foster, saying both she and Ms O'Neill had shown a "fundamental lack of awareness" of their requirement to abide by the law.

He indicated that his view was unlikely to change if the full case is heard.

It doesn’t get any more damning for a minister in office and can only further sour the perennially strained relations between DUP and Sinn Féin.

Last night DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson called on Sinn Féin to lift its veto. The language was comparatively moderate and without an ultimatum.

At the time of going to press, Sinn Féin had not responded to the judge's remarks.

What was said in court is unlikely to damage Ms O’Neill’s credibility in the eyes of her supporters but where it leaves the integrity of the executive is another matter.

Stormont's ministerial code is already the source of much derision and if it won't be adhered to because a decision causes political difficulty, it loses its all legitimacy.

With power comes responsibility and rather than the courts being forced to intervene to break the deadlock, our political leaders must surely now redouble their efforts to resolve the dispute.

Failing to do so not only lets down victims and survivors but also undermines faith in the political system.