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UDA boss Dee Stitt remains tight-lipped about future as head of Charter NI

From left, DUP councillor Sharon Skillen, with loyalist Dee Stitt, First Minister Arlene Foster, Charter NI chairman Drew Haire and project manager Caroline Birch at the launch of the £1.7m SIF funding
From left, DUP councillor Sharon Skillen, with loyalist Dee Stitt, First Minister Arlene Foster, Charter NI chairman Drew Haire and project manager Caroline Birch at the launch of the £1.7m SIF funding From left, DUP councillor Sharon Skillen, with loyalist Dee Stitt, First Minister Arlene Foster, Charter NI chairman Drew Haire and project manager Caroline Birch at the launch of the £1.7m SIF funding

A LEADING loyalist at the centre of a controversy over his role as head of a publicly funded community group was remaining tight lipped about his future tonight amid growing pressure to resign.

UDA boss Dee Stitt had been expected to announce his resignation as chief executive of Charter NI, the group which received £1.7m funding from the Stormont Executive.

However loyalist sources on Thursday said he is resisting mounting political pressure to relinquish the £35,000 a year post.

Sources have said Stitt, who is not answering calls, is on 'gardening leave' and had been told to take time off to allow other members of Charter NI to manage the fall-out from the controversy.

The alleged UDA commander has issued only one statement defending his position since the Irish News revealed last month that he was the head of an organisation set to receive a £1.7 million windfall from the Social Investment Fund (SIF).

The group was chosen to manage an east Belfast employability project which is intended to tackle hardship and poverty in deprived communities.

Stitt - a convicted armed robber - was pictured alongside First Minister Arlene Foster for a publicity shot to announce the funding allocation.

The DUP initially defended the Executive's decision to allocate the money to the group.

However, following controversial comments he made last week in an interview with the Guardian, the DUP's Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said in his view Stitt should not be the group's chief executive.

In the article Stitt launched a foul-mouthed attack on the government, claiming it does not care about Northern Ireland.

The alleged UDA leader in north Down also described the loyalist band, the North Down Defenders, as “our homeland security” and added “we are here to defend north Down from anybody”.

Former Social Development Minister Margaret Richie, who during her time in office stopped £1 million in funding to a UDA-linked group following rioting in north Down, said that Stitt's expected departure should not be allowed to distract from the wider issue.

The SDLP MP said if Stitt was removed from his post as CEO of Charter NI it would be "only window dressing".

"The Northern Ireland Executive must withdraw funding from this group with connections to UDA", said the South Down MP.

"Funding should be targeted at mitigating disadvantage which is felt by communities."