NI Conservatives’ spokesman, Trevor Ringland, has expressed his support for a bill, currently passing through the Stormont Assembly, which would bar people with serious criminal convictions from becoming special advisers (SPADs) to ministers.
“I certainly don’t agree with a lot of Jim Allister’s politics, but I think he’s got it right on this occasion”, Trevor noted. “Sinn Féin’s appointment of Mary McArdle as a special adviser was grossly insensitive, it was an insult to victims and it provided the catalyst to prevent a similar situation arising again. The proposed legislation should provide a moral compass for the process of appointing SPADs and inject some much needed accountability into a role which is highly party political, but involves substantial salaries, paid by the taxpayer.”
“I don’t accept Sinn Féin’s argument that barring people with serious criminal convictions will damage reconciliation in Northern Ireland. For the vast majority of people reconciliation is an achievable aim for the immediate future. For victims of violence and the people who perpetrated it, the process may take longer and for understandable reasons may not be achievable at all. The important thing is that all of our children can be reconciled. We must pass on a hopeful future to them, where the mistakes of the past are not repeated.”