Hay backs up his Republican buddies once again
16 June 2009
Responding to Assembly speaker William Hay’s decision to suspend UUP MLA David McNarry Jim Allister said:
“William Hay’s time in the speaker’s chair has been marked by attempts to protect Sinn Fein/IRA for even the slightest of criticism. This is new departure for the chair. Very serious allegations were made by Peter Robinson in a speech on 8th May 2001 and no action was taken against him. 1
“Does the Speaker seriously believe that Sinn Fein/IRA are not in a position to provide information about the proceeds of the Northern Bank robbery? If so, he finds himself in disagreement with the First Minister’s publically stated position on the matter. On 6th January 2005 Mr Robinson said:
“No-one can ignore the role of Sinn Fein in the largest bank robbery in UK history, and the implications for the political process in Northern Ireland.” 2
“Again, on 11th February 2005 the present Joint First Minister responded to a report from the Independent Monitoring Commission by saying:
“The senior Sinn Fein members who are also senior members of the Provisional IRA and were, according to the IMC, involved in the Northern Bank raid … must now be arrested by the PSNI and questioned. In no other society would those who are believed to have knowledge of a bank robbery be left untouched because of their political positions.”
“The double standards displayed by the DUP – and the DUP speaker’s attempt to whitewash Sinn Fein/IRA - are sickening but as the European Election result showed, their day of reckoning is coming.”3
Note to editors
1 Mr Robinson’s speech is online here http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/record/reports/010508e.htm
2 http://peterrobinson.org/PressArticles.asp?Article_ID=215
3 http://peterrobinson.org/PressArticles.asp?Article_ID=220
