Confidence in justice post rising - Robinson
UNIONIST confidence in the ability of local politicians to run a department in charge of police and the courts has been bolstered by Sinn Fein's condemnation of last month's dissident murders, according to First Minister Peter Robinson.
Speaking to the press on Thursday alongside Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, the DUP leader said community confidence in the move had been bolstered by the political unity displayed in the aftermath of the dissident republican murders of three security force members last month.
And Mr McGuinness, whose words of condemnation for the "traitors" who carried out the murders broke new ground for Sinn Fein, said an upsurge in dissident republican violence should be a wake-up call for Gordon Brown to provide the millions needed to create a Department of Justice at Stormont.
Mr McGuinness poured scorn on the dissidents who rioted this week, asking how hijacking a Housing Executive vehicle to crash it into a chapel would bring about a united Ireland.
Mr Robinson said that while local politicians had to show they could do a better job of running a Policing and Justice department than direct rulers, it was the responsibility of the Treasury and Downing Street to ensure that the finance was in place.
Government has already said it will back the devolution process, but Mr McGuinness underlined the need for action from the Prime Minister and said supporting the political institutions would frustrate the aims of dissidents opposed to the peace process.
The DUP and Sinn Fein agreed a deal late last year to devolve policing powers to Stormont, though a final date for the transfer was not announced.
The positive mood around the prospect of devolving policing and justice powers followed confirmation earlier this week from Mr Woodward that a team of civil servants examining the cost of the exercise should complete their work by May 6.
Mr Robinson said figures as high as 700 million had been mentioned for the amount of additional funding required from central Government.
But he accepted that some of those organisations consulted might have succumbed to temptation and chosen "utopian" figures for the extra funding they would like, rather than what was absolutely necessary.
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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