Alliance agreed to take on justice ministry
EFFORTS to implement the deal to stabilise Stormont’s powersharing government were boosted today when the Alliance Party agreed to take on a new justice ministry.
The party, positioned outside the main unionist and nationalist blocs in the Stormont Assembly, has been favourite to emerge as a compromise candidate to put forward a Justice Minister.
Today party leader David Ford, who is likely to take on the new job, announced that his party’s conditions for putting itself forward had been met.
Alliance had been pressing for a new strategy to combat sectarianism in Northern Ireland and welcomed news earlier this week that a policy had been agreed by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Fein after a two-year delay.
Mr Ford said: “This has not been an easy decision to make but a decision has finally been reached. We have had much discussion within our party on this and now that our two conditions have been met, we can nominate for the post of Justice Minister.”
