GROWING TENSIONS between Sinn Féin and the DUP over the proposed appointment of a chief victims' commissioner has caused an Assembly debate on the Bill to be unexpectedly postponed.
The penultimate consideration stage on the Victims and Survivors Bill, which had been granted accelerated passage by the Assembly, was due to be presented to the chamber by the First Minister and Deputy First Minister yesterday.
However, neither Ian Paisley nor Martin McGuinness was present and instead Junior Minister Jeffrey Donaldson informed MLAs that the debate would not go ahead as planned. No reason was given for the postponement.
The DUP and Sinn Féin are supposedly in disagreement over a proposal from the Alliance Party to elevate one of the recently appointed commissioners to the position of chief commissioner.
The DUP, SDLP and Ulster Unionists are thought to back the amendment, but Sinn Féin believes it would create a hierarchy within the commission.
Sinn Féin spokesman for victims' issues Francie Molloy yesterday accused the DUP of backtracking on the terms of the original agreement between the First Minister and Deputy First Minister in December.
"Sinn Féin reached an agreement with the DUP before Christmas on the way to proceed on the issue of a Victims' Commission," he said. "It meant four commissioners of equal status, reaching decisions through consensus. There can be no hierarchy of commissioners, just as there can be no hierarchy of victims.
"That was the agreement - that was what Ian Paisley publicly committed his party to doing. That is what the legislation needs to deliver. Amendments which subvert that agreement are not acceptable." However, the DUP's Sammy Wilson said it was only proper that amendments should be considered.
"What we are doing is to ensure first of all we have a commission which is independent and where there can be a clear spokesperson for that commission, not four different ones, so victims know there is some clarity," he said.
Meanwhile, a report by the Department for Regional Development has said there are not enough potential commuters in Belfast to justify the cost of a light-rail service, such as the Luas in Dublin. Instead, Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy announced plans for a high-class bus-based network, with construction set to begin in 2011.