UUP PARADES SPOKESMAN QUESTIONS LEGAL STATUS OF PARADES COMMISSION AFTER LAW LORDS FIASCO
Ulster Unionist Parades spokesman Michael Copeland has described the latest fiasco surrounding the seriously wounded Parades Commission as resembling something from an episode of ‘Yes Minister’.
In a statement Mr Copeland said,
“Were the situation not so serious it would be laughable. The recent announcement by the Law Lords which ruled the appointments of Mr MacKay and Mr Burrows illegal must surely call into question the legality of any decision taken by the Parades Commission during their tenure.
I have written to the Parades Commission asking several questions.
The number of meetings at which Mr MacKay and Mr Burrows were present?
The number of decisions taken while they were present which resulted in determinations being applied to Parades?
The number of prosecutions for alleged breaches of Parades Commission determinations arising from any such meetings?
The status of those remaining Commissioners who have publicly declared themselves as unavowedly and unashamedly republican must now come under the microscope of public scrutiny. We await with interest the findings of Lord Ashdown’s review which I hope will consign this Commission to the dustbin of History, where in my view, it properly belongs.”