Sinn Féin has been criticised for appointing a woman convicted of killing a magistrate's daughter as an adviser to one of its ministers in Stormont.
Mary McArdle (46) was part of an IRA gang who opened fire on Tom Travers and his family as they left mass in south Belfast in April 1984, killing his 22-year-old daughter Mary.
Ms McArdle has been appointed adviser to Sinn Féin’s culture minister Caral Ní Chuilín, who is also a former prisoner.
Political opponents and relatives of Mary Travers have called for McArdle to be removed from the post.
Ann Travers, a sister of the murdered woman, said she was sickened by the decision. “She’s now in the position in which she is paid by the taxpayer - of which my mum is one,” she said. “I am absolutely horrified that she has been given such a position. I think it’s really wrong and I think she should stand down.”
Sinn Féin’s Gerry Kelly said ex-prisoners had helped to develop the peace process. “Almost half our Assembly team are former political prisoners,” he said. “Many more ex-prisoners have played critical and positive roles in bringing the political process to where it is now and will continue to do so.”
Ms Ní Chuilín said she accepted that families had suffered in the Troubles. “We are in a post-conflict environment,” she said. “I understand, particularly where families have been bereaved, huge issues around grief and I respect that, but I have absolutely no comment to make on that. We are in a post-conflict situation and that’s it.”
Ms Travers told the BBC: “They didn’t even have the decency to let us know that this woman involved in the murder of my sister had been given this job.
“While we all want to move forward and have peace in Northern Ireland, we’re still all allowed to grieve and we should never be asked to stop grieving or forget about our loved ones who were murdered.
“We’re not allowed to move on because every time we want to move on, Sinn Féin turn the knife a little bit more and we’re asked to accept a little bit more from them.”
Ulster Unionist Assembly member Robin Swann, who sits on Stormont’s committee for the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL), said the Sinn Féin appointment was an insult to victims. “The appointment of Mary McArdle as a special adviser to the new Sinn Féin minister is a retrograde step,” he said.
“As a 19-year-old, Mary McArdle chose to join a terrorist organisation and participate in the murder of another young woman, Mary Travers, as she left a place of worship with her family.
“The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure has extensive dealings with sports clubs and arts groups throughout Northern Ireland. Many of those groups involve young people. The post of special adviser at DCAL needs to be filled by someone who can command respect, confidence and trust from throughout the community.”
PA