Veterans Commissioner Danny Kinahan offers resignation to NI Secretary Hilary Benn

The News Letter has attempted to contact Mr Kinahan for comment but had received no response at the time of going to print.

The Northern Ireland Office would not say whether the resignation had been accepted by the Secretary of State. A spokesperson said “we do not comment on speculation”.

The NIO also said it is committed to ensuring veterans have access to the support they need “through the Veterans Welfare Service Northern Ireland and the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust” – but made no mention of the NI Veterans’ Commissioner's Office.

Danny Kinahan, a former Ulster Unionist MP for South Antrim, became Northern Ireland’s first veterans’ commissioner in September 2020 after being appointed by the secretary of state.

The appointment was one of the commitments made by the government in the New Decade New Approach agreement which restored Stormont after a three-year Sinn Fein boycott.

The position is independent of government and the commissioner’s role is to be a voice for veterans in Northern Ireland.

There are believed to be around 150,000 armed forces veterans living in Northern Ireland. However, securing the same support measures for ex-servicemen and women here has not been as straightforward as it is in the rest of the United Kingdom.

Mr Kinahan has in the past expressed frustration about the failure of government to deliver for veterans in Northern Ireland.

In evidence given to a Westminster committee on the Armed Forces Bill in 2021, Mr Kinahan said delivery for veterans should be done through the Ministry of Defence – should local politicians at Stormont fail to deliver on the bill’s aims.

“The political landscape of Northern Ireland means that issues such as the implementation of the [Armed Forces] Covenant are not as straightforward as in other regions of the United Kingdom,” he said.

“As a former politician, I am acutely aware of the difficulties there have been in the past and continue to be around veterans’ issues. With education, health and housing all falling within the devolved space it is therefore imperative that if the Stormont Executive fails to deliver on everything that will flow from this legislation, or if the executive was to cease functioning again, then I strongly recommend that provision is made within the legislation that ensures delivery via the Ministry of Defence and/or the Northern Ireland Office for veterans and their families living in Northern Ireland.

“The political landscape also means that on occasions legislation is only agreed on a quid pro quo basis and it is therefore essential that all legislation is comprehensive and as strong as it can be so that any watering down of its delivery will still achieve its original aim.”

He said that a number of initiatives that have been made available to veterans living in other regions of the UK, that are not part of the Armed Forces Covenant, and therefore can only be delivered via the devolved administration.

He cited examples such as the rail travel card; guaranteed interviews in the civil service; and national insurance breaks for new businesses.

He told MPs that veterans living in Northern Ireland “feel they are disadvantaged compared to their fellow veterans living in other parts of the United Kingdom” – adding that “the political landscape in Northern Ireland makes the delivery of such initiatives more difficult”.