Suspended civil servant in Northern Ireland Water controversy replaced

A replacement was announced today for the senior civil servant suspended from his post at the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Paul Priestly, removed earlier this week as permanent secretary at the Department of Regional Development (DRD), is to be replaced by his equivalent at the Department of Agriculture, Malcolm McKibbin.

The temporary move comes after Mr Priestly was suspended while an investigation looks into allegations made against him over the handling of the crisis in the Government-owned company Northern Ireland Water (NIW).