Ritchie warned over UDA disarming deadline

Stormont Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie was today warned that her credibility would be damaged if she lets a deadline slip for loyalist paramilitaries to disarm.

Her Assembly scrutiny committee chairman, Gregory Campbell sounded the warning amid claims that the minister will not be making a statement on the future of a £1.2m fund for the renewal of loyalist communities next Tuesday – the day she ordered the Ulster Defence Association to disarm.

Mr Campbell said it would not be credible for the minister to accept a meeting between UDA figures and the head of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning when she was so forthright in August about the terror group disarming within 60 days.

“Her credibility is on the line,” the Democratic Unionist MP said.

“As I said at the time, if she announces a specific, immovable, unchangeable deadline to term which has to be met in full and they do not happen, anybody who does that in such a blaze of publicity is going to come under strain.

“It appears that is what will happen next week and it will leave the minister exposed.”

When she became Social Development Minister Miss Ritchie inherited a decision from her Northern Ireland Office predecessor to earmark £1.2m over three years to the Conflict Transformation Initiative for loyalist areas.

The Initiative was supported by the Ulster Political Research Group which advises the UDA.

However, loyalists in the face of considerable criticism of the project were at pains to stress that the UDA was not involved in managing the funds and that Farset Community Enterprises was instead performing that role.

However after the UDA was linked to rioting in Carrick Fergus and Bangor during the summer, including attacks on police officers, the SDLP minister threatened to withdraw the funding unless the UDA met her disarmament deadline of October 9.

Miss Ritchie met representatives of the Ulster Political Research Group, including senior UDA figure Jackie McDonald, last week for face-to-face talks.