Candidates pledge support for new Victims Charter

In a joint statement the four candidates - Tom Mateer, John McCall, Andrew Moore and Jonny Miller - have hit out at the DUP for failing to support the charter.

“We are disappointed but not surprised that the DUP and their Euro election candidate Dianne Dodds have failed to back the Contract with innocent victims,” they said. “When your party is in coalition with the victim makers it is difficult to pretend you are standing up for victims.

“The DUP document on victims issued last week is a very poor substitute to the Contract. When one compares the two documents it is evident that the DUP are dodging the key issues.

“For example, there is no commitment by the DUP to ensuring that government documents reflect the reality that what happened during the Troubles was, in the words of the Contract, “a terrorist campaign motivated by sectarian and ethnic hatreds”.

“However, of great interest locally will be the dodging of the key issue of the Maze Shrine. The contract states: “I along with my Party give an undertaking that we will not support the development of any ‘Conflict Transformation/ Peace building Centre’ or any other project associated with the ‘Troubles’ at the former Maze prison site whilst the listed buildings connected to the former prison and hospital wing remain”.

“TUV, having campaigned for many years against the Maze shrine, has no problem with this. However, the DUP document fails to rule out a U-Turn on the Maze merely saying that “there shall be no Peace Centre at the Maze unless there is broad support across the community for any such proposal”.

“A few months ago Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness posed with shovels to announce the commencement of work at the Maze Shrine.

“The DUP have still failed to admit that they were wrong on this issue.

“Three DUP DOE Ministers have refused to de-list the listed buildings at the Maze.

“Their failure to endorse the contract in full reinforces the suspicion in many quarters that the DUP plan to roll over on this once the elections are out of the way. The best insurance policy against this is a first preference vote for your TUV council candidate and Jim Allister in the Euro poll.

“Unlike the DUP all TUV council candidates in Lisburn will be signed up to 
this contract.”