Call for cross-Border inquiry into Nama property sale

An independent cross-Border inquiry should now be established to investigate the sale of the Nama

northern property portfolio, the deputy chairwoman of the Stormont inquiry examining the sale has urged.

Claire Hanna, the SDLP finance spokeswoman and deputy chairwoman of the Assembly's finance committee, said fresh revelations in a BBC Northern Ireland Spotlight programme raised further questions about the role of former Nama adviser Frank Cushnahan in the sale of Nama's former Northern Ireland loan portfolio – known as Project Eagle – to US group Cerberus.

Politicians at Stormont have been conducting their own inquiry into the sale at the same time as the Law Society of Northern Ireland, the UK's National Crime Agency and various US agencies.

But Ms Hanna said that, even with all these inquiries, “we are no further to getting to the bottom of ” what happened. “There is now a clear need for a fully independent inquiry that compels answers from governments North and South of the Border and all those involved in this deal.”

The finance committee’s inquiry into the sale of the Nama portfolio is ongoing but members have warned that they are unlikely to reach a conclusion before the Assembly is dissolved for the Northern Ireland elections on May 5th.

Ulster Unionist Party leader Mike Nesbitt has said the Spotlight report contains revelations that, in his opinion, call into doubt the judgment of those at the heart of the North's political institutions.