Taxpayer to pay part of DUP legal bill

Northern Ireland's political establishment have roundly criticised the news that the Department of Regional Development (DRD) is to pick up part of the bill for the DUP's failed legal action to dissolve the Stormont executive.

It has been revealed that Peter Robinson, the deputy DUP leader and minister for the DRD portfolio, will order that a proportion of his party's legal costs be paid out of the public purse. It has not yet been confirmed how much that figure will be.

The reports follow on from yesterday's decision by the Laws Lords to reject the DUP petition to declare the election of the first and deputy first minister last November as unlawful as it fell outside of the six-week deadline.

However, Peter Robinson has made a robust defence against critics, whom he described as a "shower of hypocrites".

"I really do wonder at the hypocrisy from the shower of hypocrites that we have had from the SDLP and the Ulster Unionists who have amassed greater costs to the public purse out of legal cases they have been involved in than anyone else has," he said.

He was referring to a legal move last year that saw the UUP leader David Trimble use public money to help pay for costs incurred during legal action by Sinn Fein ministers. In that instance, Bairbre de Brun and Martin McGuinness challenged the first minister's decision to exclude ministers from meeting with the North/South Ministerial Council as executive representatives.

The Alliance leader David Ford said that public money ought to be used on the "business of government" and not party political legal action.

Mr Ford said: "It is regrettable when you look at the difficulties we have in public finances that there have been a number of cases over the years in which public money has been spent.

"Those who have spent that money have to justify to the people their actions in spending money on court cases rather than getting on with the business of government."

Secretary of State John Reid said: "It is regrettable that considerable sums of public money, which should have been devoted to improving public services for the people of Northern Ireland, were used to fight narrow party political battles in the court room".

(GMcG)