The Ulster Unionist Party’s Justice spokesperson, Doug Beattie MC MLA, has expressed his disappointment that other parties in the Assembly – except Jim Allister - did not have the courage to support the Ulster Unionist motion to end the separated prison regime at HMP Maghaberry by 2026.

Doug Beattie said:

“We must move our society forward and in doing so political leaders must show the moral and physical courage to tackle paramilitaries at source. The Ulster Unionist motion to end the separated prison regime at HMP Maghaberry was sequenced and took into account the sensitivities of such a move, hence the suggestion of a timeframe of nine years to achieve this goal. I further outlined that those who were long term separated prisoners should have the flexibility to complete their sentence, but there should be no new admissions after 2021 with a fully integrated prison by 2026.

“Sinn Fein opposed the motion which was not surprising as they were the main architects of the separated regime instigated by the Steele Report in 2003.  However, I was surprised that the Democratic Unionist Party chose to abstain, even though they also claimed they were committed to ending the separated prison regime and eradicating paramilitarism. Their argument that the nine years I proposed to end separated prison regime was too long was staggering, especially as the motion clearly stated the dates were end targets. In simple terms the motion allowed for the separated regime to end earlier.

“By abstaining, the DUP ensured the Sinn Fein amendment would pass and that special status for convicted terrorists was protected.

“This has handed dissident Republicans a trump card which they will now use to demand more and more concessions with the threat of violence. Within the prison system they will retain their centre of gravity, their identity and their perceived credibility while at the same time, continuing to direct terrorism or paramilitary activity outside of the prison, on a society beleaguered by the shadow of organised paramilitary crime.

“The Ulster Unionist MLAs showed courage in putting their head above the parapet. The motion was the right thing to do, at the right time and delivered in the right place to affect change. If we are to move our society forward we cannot hide in the bottom of the trench and allow others to do the heavy lifting. On this occasion I believe the DUP had a chance to set down a marker that they are a party to effect change but they did not take that chance.”