Northern Ireland

RHI probe exposes 'grubby' spad culture at heart of DUP

DUP special advisor Timothy Johnston. Picture by Mal McCann
DUP special advisor Timothy Johnston. Picture by Mal McCann DUP special advisor Timothy Johnston. Picture by Mal McCann

Recent RHI evidence has exposed the key role special advisers played behind the scenes at Stormont. Political Corresponent John Manley finds there has been little said that instils confidence in what is an unaccountable layer of government...

THE past few days of RHI inquiry hearings have provided further insights of how Stormont ministers behaved in office, whether it was over-indulging on overseas trips or asking for an already over-budget scheme to be extended for a couple more weeks.

But equally significant is a series of claims and counter-claims involving well-paid DUP special advisers, who clearly played a central role in governing Northern Ireland over the decade since the St Andrews Agreement.

The internal workings of the DUP have been exposed as "grubby". The claims by Arlene Foster's former aide Andrew Crawford that he was scapegoated by the leadership at the height of public outcry over RHI paint a unedifying picture of life at the heart of Stormont's largest and most powerful party.

At times, the protagonists, their conflicting assertions, coupled with the regular inability to recall particular episodes, mean the proceedings can become a blur. However, the substantive impression that emerges is of a dysfunctional and at times internecine core where self-preservation often appeared to trump any responsibilities to the public good.

The key character in the drama, save for Mrs Foster herself, is Timothy Johnston, who last year was appointed to the newly-created role of DUP chief executive.

According to Timothy Cairns, who was Jonathan Bell's reluctant spad when the out-of-control RHI needed to be reined in, Mr Johnston was involved in the decision to delay cost controls. It's also been claimed that Mrs Foster knew this but along with 'key players' in the party, including former finance minister Simon Hamilton, allowed Mr Crawford to be cast in the media as the main impediment to curbing the scheme's largesse.

A former Ulster Unionist who has worked for the DUP's three leaders, Mr Johnston has been at the receiving end of internal criticism before. The late Ian Paisley's wife Eileen, holds Mr Johnston responsible for compiling a survey which effectively skewered her husband and provided the basis for Peter Robinson to supersede the party's founder. Mr Johnston refutes the charge.

Mr Johnston, from Portadown, Co Armagh, is married to the sister of John Robinson, the DUP's head of communications who 'stood aside' as Simon Hamilton's adviser early last year after it emerged his father-in-law was a poultry farmer and recipient of RHI subsidies.

He said he did not discuss RHI with his father-in-law and that neither he, nor his wife, had any role or benefit in his in-laws' farming business.

While it has yet to be confirmed that Mr Robinson, Mr Johnston, and their one-time counterpart Richard Bullick, now working in public relations, will join their fellow spads Mr Cairns and Mr Crawford in giving oral evidence to the inquiry, it would be surprising if all were not being lined up for an appearance.

Earlier this year, there was also a namecheck for Stephen Brimstone, the DUP spad at the centre of the Red Sky controversy.

The inquiry heard that in November 2014, Mr Crawford passed Mr Brimstone the details of a civil servant involved in the RHI, with the former recalling that his counterpart may have wanted to talk about the RHI scheme with reference to the Green New Deal, which was one of his responsibilities at the time.

Inquiry junior counsel Joseph Aiken remarked it was more likely that he wanted to speak "about his boiler".

This coming week another former DUP special adviser will appear before the RHI inquiry – though it's been a decade since Alastair Hamilton had the ear of the party's leader. The one-time spad to late DUP leader Ian Paisley comes to the inquiry on Friday in his capacity as Invest NI chief executive, a role the former regional head of BT has held since 2008.

Invest NI's role in the RHI appears peripheral, though the agency was involved in promoting the benefits of renewable heat and biomass ahead of the scheme's launch.