Judge us on our work, say victims' commissioners

The North’s new victims’ commissioners today urged the public to judge them on their work and not the controversial process by which they were appointed.

The four commissioners were speaking after First Minister Ian Paisley confirmed their selection and the allocation of £33m (€44m) for the victims’ sector over the next three years.

Mr Paisley and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness were forced to justify in the Assembly the appointment of the four-strong panel and insisted that it was not as a result of any deadlock between them over the original plan for a single commissioner.

As they faced the cameras for the first time, the four commissioners – former interim commissioner and RUC widow Bertha McDougal; Patricia MacBride, whose brother was an IRA man shot dead by the SAS; former TV anchorman Mike Nesbitt; and Brendan McAllister, the director of Mediation Northern Ireland – said it was time to concentrate on victims’ issues and not the selection process.

Mr McAllister said: “We hope we can all now move forward and switch the focus away from the appointment process and return where it belongs – on the victims and survivors – the people who have paid, and continue to pay, the greatest price.”