DECLASSIFIED GOVERNMENT FILES open to the public in PRONI from 9am this morning reveal how the NIO and government departments handled what was happening in Northern Ireland in the run up to 1991.
Here’s an interesting snippet. It’s an Assembly Question from Patsy McGlone to Tom Elliott regarding “the independent board of inquiry that was convened to consider the disciplinary charges” against Paul Priestly. It’s interesting for a number of reasons: To ask the First Minister and deputy First Minister, in relation to the independent board of inquiry that was convened to consider the disciplinary charges against a senior civil servant, to detail (i) the terms of reference; (ii) the members on the …
Yesterday Diana Rusk in the Irish News noted that NI Water supremo Laurence McKenzie just happened to delete that controversial email text which Paul Priestley sent him, a full 17 days after receiving it. But an FOI response from NI Water reveals he deleted it the day after NI Water received an FOI requesting it. The request was eventually granted. Following a complaint from the person who made the original request, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in Belfast is looking …
There’s a very sharply observed piece by Denis Bradley in today’s Irish News, which aside from lauding the work of John Dallat and others on the PAC, an intelligent whistle-blower and some fine words about Slugger, he also let’s slip a few fundamental truths about where the blame lies. And it is not with the politicians: “…it has caught the two governing parties on the hop. They didn’t see it coming. But anyone who has spent a few nights in the …
So Paul Priestly is effectively being investigated by his boss, Bruce Robinson. But Slugger understands that when Priestly brought the idea of an Independent Review Team to Robinson, the Head of Northern Ireland Civil Service told him directly that it was a bad idea. So, to repeat something we’ve been asking all through this mess, how can such an investigation be seen to as independent and equitable? Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts …
