THE NORTH’S Minister for Justice is to meet delegations from Sinn Féin and the SDLP in response to the publication of inquiry findings on the murder of solicitor Rosemary Nelson.
Both parties are to raise concerns that Northern Ireland Office (NIO) civil servants criticised in the inquiry’s findings, could now be working for David Ford at the Department of Justice at Stormont.
Sinn Féin’s John O’Dowd said yesterday: “The inquiry into the murder of Rosemary Nelson identified a number of senior NIO civil servants and senior RUC officers who clearly contributed either through omission or action to Rosemary’s brutal murder.
“The public need to hear answers from the justice minister about where these individuals are now.”
“I will be seeking reassurance from the Minister David Ford firstly that the very significant failings identified by the Rosemary Nelson inquiry will never be repeated and secondly that those responsible are no longer in a position to repeat the disgraceful conduct outlined in the report.”
SDLP justice spokesman Alban Maginness has expressed his fears that the transfer of civil servants from the NIO to the justice department following devolution last year was simply “direct rule in drag”.
“You have to remember that many of these officials transferred over at the point of devolution of justice and I think it’s important for us to question whether the same personnel exist at different levels within the department of justice,” he said.
“Were they culpable in some way in relation to the events surrounding the circumstances in which Rosemary Nelson was murdered?” It was, he said, “undesirable that people should be transferred lock, stock and barrel from the NIO to the justice department”.