A NEW LAW passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly means that anyone with a serious conviction cannot become a special political advisor in Stormont.
BBC News reports that after a marathon debate in the North’s Assembly the Civil Service (special advisors) Bill was passed by 56 votes to 28 with Sinn Féin and the Greens opposing the law and the SDLP abstaining.
Unionist Support ensured the passage of the bill which came about in the wake of Sinn Féin’s appointment of former IRA prisoner Mary McArdle as a special advisor.
McArdle was convicted for her part in the murder of Mary Travers, the daughter of a judge, nearly 30 years ago.
The law, proposed by Traditional Unionist Voice party member Jim Allister, was on foot of a campaign by Travers’ sister Ann. McArdle has since been moved from her post as advisor to Culture Minister Carál Ní Chuilín.
Sinn Féin has criticised the bill as an abandonment of the Good Friday Agreement but Unionists welcomed the measure.
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