Politics

Arlene Foster insists DUP was unaware of inquest funding deal

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he was unaware of any legacy deal between the British government and Sinn Féin
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he was unaware of any legacy deal between the British government and Sinn Féin Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he was unaware of any legacy deal between the British government and Sinn Féin

DUP leader Arlene Foster yesterday moved to quell the controversy around who knew about an apparent side deal between Sinn Féin and the British government on legacy funding.

DUP justice spokesman Sir Jeffrey Donaldson's claim that he was unaware of proposals to release funds for Troubles' inquests was met with widespread bemusement – given that Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald had outlined the deal a week earlier.

Mrs McDonald had said her party had a separate "commitment" from the Tory government to put inquest funding and legacy measures from the Stormont House Agreement out to public consultation.

Sinn Féin negotiator Gerry Kelly gave further details of the deal during BBC's The View on Thursday night.

But his fellow guest Sir Jeffrey maintained he was unaware of any separate deal between the British government and Sinn Féin.

Amid yesterday's fall-out from the Lagan Valley MP's shock assertion, Mrs Foster said it would be "astonishing" if funding for legacy inquests was granted without an overall agreement.

“No one in the DUP was aware of inquest funding being progressed in the absence of an overall agreement or a decision to advance all elements of the Stormont House Agreement," the DUP leader said.

"It would be astonishing if the government granted funding for legacy inquests in the absence of an overall agreement to progress all elements of the Stormont House Agreement."

Mrs Foster said it was a "matter of public record" that Sinn Féin had been talking to the British government about progressing legacy inquest funding.

"I was aware of this during the talks," she said.

"We were also talking to the government about matters of importance to us."

The former first minister said she would be raising the matter with Secretary of State Karen Bradley

Sinn Féin deputy leader Michelle O'Neill insisted the British government had committed to releasing inquest funding and pressing ahead with the legacy consultation – minus a proposed statute of limitation that had been included at the behest of Tory MPs.

"That represents positive progress towards the implementation of commitments from the Stormont House and Fresh Start agreements," she said.

"The British government should never have been using victims as bargaining chips in the negotiations and they now need to implement their agreement, release the funds immediately and start the consultation."

A British government spokesman said all discussions with the Stormont parties were in the context of how it would respond if there was a deal.

"Regrettably there was no agreement," he said

The spokesman said the British government had set out clear commitments to take forward the Stormont House Agreement legacy institutions and to support inquest reform.

"As the secretary of state made clear on Tuesday, she will be consulting on how to implement Stormont House legacy institutions as soon as possible," he said.

In 2014, the Tory government announced £150 million to support legacy reform, while two years later Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan requested cash be released as he outlined plans to address a major backlog in inquests.

Former justice minister David Ford called for funding for legacy inquests to be released "immediately".

"The victims of the Troubles deserve justice and they deserve it now," he said.

"We need to see the legacy inquest funding released immediately because it is the right thing to do, not it being subject to a side deal or rumours of an agreement."