Secretary of State must now fire the Parades Commission board says DUP while TUV calls position 'irretrievable'
DUP figures have demanded that the Secretary of State now dismiss the entire Parades Commission board, after they signalled that they will not resign.
It follows a scathing judgment handed down in the High Court in Belfast, which picked apart the commission’s rationale for blocking the Drumcree parade.
Meanwhile UUP leader Jon Burrows and TUV leader Jim Allister said likewise, with the latter calling the commission’s position “irretrievable”.
They were speaking after the commission’s chairwoman professor Evelyn Collins gave an interview to the BBC stating that the commissioners are committed to “completing our terms of office”.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson described the interview as “devastating” for the commission, saying “any notion that the Parades Commission could muddle their way through was just blown out of the water,” adding: “The secretary of state will know that if resignations don’t flow, he will have to act.”
Phillip Brett, MLA for North Belfast (and, like Mr Robinson, an Orangeman), told the News Letter: “Our position is that rather than assist the situation, the interview given by the chair of the commission further undermined public confidence in the organisation.
“Ultimately the secretary of state set the bar on this. He said in his interview earlier this week that for the Parades Commission to function properly it needs to command the confidence of all communities in Northern Ireland, and it’s clear that not one elected representative in the unionist community believes the Parades Commission in its current form can continue.
“So he needs to now act and remove them seeing that they won’t voluntarily resign.”
Wouldn’t this antagonise nationalists?
“I haven’t seen one elected representative of the nationalist community rolling in behind in support of the current commissioners,” replied Mr Brett.
He noted that two weeks ago the secretary of state had intervened to dismiss human rights commissioner David Lavery from his role over a court reference for his cousin, who had been convicted of historic sex abuse.
“He should follow that precedent,” said Mr Brett.
Fellow DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley (who represents Upper Bann, into which Drumcree falls) told the News Letter: “For the chair of the Parades Commission to state that its members would not be resigning smacks of arrogance and a dismissal of the huge failings uncovered by the High Court process.
“This publicly-funded body wasn’t taking decisions but simply reverting to ‘factory settings’ every time.
“Determinations weren’t even being read and they actively refused to undertake their statutory duty in relation to mediation.
“These aren’t just criticisms but fundamental failures which removes any shred of credibility from its commissioners.
“The case for resignations was already beyond doubt, but it has only been further strengthened.
“If there continues to be a stubborn refusal by the commissioners to accept reality, then the secretary of state must act.”
High Court judge Mr Justice McAlinden referred to “errors”, “shortcuts”, and “sloppy procedures” in the approach of the commission to making its Drumcree determination.
Professor Collins told the BBC ‘Good Morning Ulster’ programme on Thursday: “We accept the criticisms that have been made, and we take the issues that were raised by the court very seriously.
“And obviously, we’ve heard calls for resignation; rather than resign the commissioners and I are very committed to fulfilling our responsibilities under the legislation, to completing our terms of office and to addressing and fixing the problems that have been identified.
“We’ve already addressed the main concern.
“The court identified that not all commissioners signed off the final text of the draft, so that practice has changed.”
Asked if the commission could continue in its current form, the chair said: “Well, that’s a matter for Sir Chris Bryant. I will reply to his letter that I’m expecting today, setting out our plans to restore public confidence...”
Asked if she felt the need to resign, Professor Collins said: “I don’t. I am committed to making things right in this instance.”