Gerry Kelly: 'Insufficient grounds' to remove MLA from Policing Board

Unionist parties called for Gerry Kelly to be removed from the Policing Board

Justice Minister Naomi Long has ruled there are "insufficient grounds" for removing Sinn Féin's Gerry Kelly from the Policing Board over a Twitter post celebrating the IRA Maze jailbreak.

Mrs Long said her decision followed legal advice.

She had been urged to act after the DUP and the Ulster Unionists said a tweet by Mr Kelly in September "glorified" an event in which a prison officer died.

They argued it broke the Policing Board code of conduct.

Mrs Long intervened after the board was unable to resolve complaints about Mr Kelly made by Ulster Unionist MLA Mike Nesbitt and others.

Thirty-eight IRA prisoners escaped from the Maze in 1983

Under legislation, she has the power to remove a board member if she is not satisfied they are committed to non-violence.

In a statement she said: "Having considered advice, it is clear that there are insufficient grounds even for holding an investigation into whether Mr Kelly should be removed from the Policing Board.

"The tweet, taken in the round with other statements of Mr Kelly, did not explicitly demonstrate a non-commitment to non-violence and exclusively peaceful and democratic means or otherwise suggest that there would be grounds to consider statutory removal.

"I have already made it clear that I found the tweet offensive but I am also clear that in discharge of my functions I must act in line with established legal standards.

"On that basis, I have accepted the legal advice provided and will not be taking further action."

Naomi Long said she found Mr Kelly's comments "offensive and inappropriate"

Mr Nesbitt said he found it "extraordinary" that the advice the justice minister received "says it is not even worth investigating".

"Unless the justice minister is prepared to publish the legal advice she has received, she will be open to accusations of hiding behind it," he added.

DUP Policing Board member Mervyn Storey had raised a complaint against Mr Kelly in relation to the tweet and accused Naomi Long of avoiding the problem.

"It is deeply disappointing, but unfortunately not surprising that the minister has sought to duck the issue," he said.

"That the justice minister would be an elected representative seems to have come as a surprise to the current incumbent, leading to a somewhat convenient outcome where legal advice might be hidden behind.

DUP Policing Board member Mervyn Storey had raised a complaint against Mr Kelly

"People will be able to draw their own conclusions in relation to the Justice Minister's handling of this issue just as they have been able to draw their own conclusions about Gerry Kelly's commitment to the rule of law."

Mr Kelly was one of 38 prisoners involved in the 1983 jailbreak.

In his tweet he stated: "Thirty-seven years ago 38 Irish Republican prisoners were getting into a lorry at H7 and heading to the front gate of Long Kesh and freedom. One of Big Bob's best ops! I had the privilege of the front passenger seat. Well someone had to check we were taking the right route out!!"

Days later he tweeted his support for the rule of law.

One prison officer died from a heart attack after being stabbed during the break-out and another survived being shot in the head.

The injured officer John Adams later claimed in a statement that it was Mr Kelly who shot him.

Mr Kelly has never admitted it and was found not guilty after a trial in 1987.