Ian Paisley Jnr hits out at prisoner funding

Leading DUP member, Ian Paisley Jnr has hit out at the amount of money prisoner groups have received from Peace 11 funding.

Mr Paisley, who is also a member of the Policing Board, said the figures, which showed that prisoner groups have received over £2 million in direct support, was "a shameful waste of Peace and Reconciliation resources" given that terrorist activity was still ongoing.

The figure was contained in the Community Foundation annual report entitled 'Taking calculated Risks for Peace 11'.

Commenting on the programme, Mr Paisley said: "Whilst there are many beneficial Peace 11 programmes and many hard working community groups, I know that the majority of them struggle whilst prisoners groups continue to benefit from their involvement in crime.

"Such pay-outs undermine the credibility of the Peace 11 Programme. They are in my view a complete misuse of hard fought for resources from Europe."

Mr Paisley said the funding was "a calculated snub" to those who have suffered at the hands of terrorists "only to learn that public money is now helping those same terrorists to be sustained after their imprisonment in networks and groups that allow them to sponge off this community".

"There is clearly more value and more resources given to killers and bombers than to those who defended the country from terrorism," he concluded.

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