Four into One
So far we have a mixed response to the announcement that there will be a new Victims Commission with four commissioners - former UTV and BBC Good Morning Ulster presenter Mike Nesbitt, mediator Brendan McAllister, former Interim Commissioner and RUC widow Bertha McDougall and Patricia MacBride. Ms MacBride has worked in PR, was a victims representative on the Civic Forum, worked for the Bloody Sunday Trust and is the sister of an IRA man shot dead by the SAS in Fermanagh, Antoine Mac Giolla Bhrighde
The multiple appointment has been criticised by the UUP Deputy Leader Danny Kennedy and the Alliance Deputy Leader Naomi Long, who described it as a "damaging fudge". But the DUP's Jeffrey Donaldson and a number of his colleagues have leapt to the defence, making light of the notion that the OFMDFM will now be paying four Commissioners' salaries (c.£65,000 p.a.) whilst it had initially been presumed it would only be forking out for one.
When Bertha McDougall was being dragged though the courts in relation to her unorthodox appointment, few would have believed her career would outlast the man who appointed her, Peter Hain. But the two have certainly had different fortunes this week. I wonder whether this multiple appointment will ensure the matter does not return to the courts, or if some might seek a review on the grounds that they would have applied if they had known a panel of four was in the offing?
And what about the children and the elderly? Will we see them on the steps of Stormont demanding three extra commissioners?
The appointment of the new Commission is one of the topics I tackle with the UUP leader Sir Reg Empey on tomorrow's Inside Politics. We also discuss how his party will vote in next week's debate on the budget, his reaction to Ian Paisley Junior's comments on the DUP leadership succession and just how sorry he feels for the departing Peter Hain.
The programme is on air at 12.45 pm on BBC Radio Ulster, and if you miss that, the programme can be caught again on the web Inside Politics .
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