Cut In Victims' Funds Not FAIR, Says Frazer

Funding to a Troubles victims' group has been stopped while investigations take place into its management, with a call being made for clarity on the issue.

Founded by Willie Frazer 13 years ago, Families Acting for Innocent Relatives (FAIR) mainly campaigns for the victims of republican violence.

Funding from the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) has been cut while it has also been told to pay the EU back nearly £343,000.

Mr Frazer has denied misspending cash and called the funding cut "political".

Probes have been already been carried out by the PSNI and the Public Prosecution Service - with no prosecution in relation to those inquiries to be taken.

Other probes have been carried out by the European Union and OFMDFM, with the First Minister's Office investigation still ongoing.

The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Victims spokesperson, Mike Nesbitt, has called for urgent clarification and transparency regarding the decision to cut funding to the group, Families Acting for Innocent Relatives (FAIR) in south Armagh.

The Strangford MLA and former NI Victims Commissioner said: "The decision to cut funding, and to claw back 350,000 already paid, could mean the end of the organisation, yet when I spoke to FAIR Director Willie Frazer last night, he had not been given any reason why FAIR are being excluded.

"Openness and transparency are values we say we put at the heart of the way we do government," he said adding that "vague talk of a new Victims Service gave many groups an uneasy feeling that the hidden agenda was to get rid of them".

"I have to say, the fact the Service is still not up and running has done nothing to dispel that fear," he said.

He added: "The second point is that it strikes me that Government tends to hand out money and then send in the auditors with the big stick to make sure the funding was properly spent," he said.

"Once again, the process of running a support group has become more important to government that the outcomes the support group was set up to achieve in the first place.

"We need to hear from the First Minister and Deputy First Minister on their decision to cut funding," the former TV presenter concluded.

(BMcC/GK)