Alliance reacts to Secretary of State's Announcement

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 2nd Jan 1998

Alliance Party Deputy Leader Seamus Close has reacted to the announcement by the Secretary of State of an extension to the inquiry into operational procedures at the Maze Prison.

Seamus Close said :

"The Secretary of State has decided to extend the remit of one of her Civil Servants in his investigation into the operational procedures of the Maze Prison. The problem with this approach is that the political decisions governing the running of the prison also need to be looked at. It is these decisions which, when implemented by Civil Servants, have led to the problems in the prison. Civil Servants will not critise the decisions of their political masters. Today's announcement fails to give the confidence that is needed in such an inquiry. To simply extend the brief given to a Civil Servant will satisfy no-one".

ENDS