Self-Gratitude at Stormont
23 January 2012
Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“There is a new addition to the Members’ Lobby just outside the Assembly chamber – a stone obelisk venerating the Hillsborough Agreement.
“Previously I have highlighted the fact that memorial tablets commemorating Sir Norman Stronge and Edgar Graham are not even mentioned in the official script for tours of Parliament Buildings. Sir Norman was a decorated First World War soldier who fought at the Somme and went on to become Speaker of the Northern Ireland Commons who was murdered by the IRA in 1981 at the age of 86 while Edgar Graham was shot by the IRA two years later.
“While these deserving memorial tablets are ignored on public tours, public money is wasted on celebrating a shoddy political deal for the sole purpose of feeding the egos of Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness. At Hillsborough the DUP rolled over to Sinn Fein's demands on policing and justice, but got nothing in return, despite the false promises over parading.
“I have tabled a question to the Assembly Commission asking what the cost to the public purse of this obelisk was and requesting an explanation as to why it has been placed in the Members’ Lobby."
