Speeches by Robinson.

“You mentioned the PSNI and the suggestion that it should be able to refer into ICRIR. You are aware that there are suggestions that other organisations, such as the Police Ombudsman’s office, should similarly be empowered to do so. I assume that there would be no reticence around the expansion of that list.”

“No, there may be circumstances in which it is entirely legitimate to withhold information, but it will have an impact on confidence and whether people believe there are conspiracies. That is not a catch-all, but a potential. We cannot control what the Supreme Court decides, so my question is: is there a way in which ex…”

“Have you found any resistance to those propositions from the Northern Ireland Office?”

“Good morning to you all. Sir Declan, you mentioned in your opening remarks that you had four propositions to give to us. The last one—to paraphrase in a non-verbatim way, in case I am pulled up by a former member of the judiciary—was a reset moment in which you hope to support two Governments in where they land. I thin…”

“Can I ask you to express whether you have been disappointed or not by the almost silent indifference whenever prejudicial complaints are made on perception of conflict of interest?”

“There is a political part to this process. Clearly, it is being led by politicians, and the Secretary of State will bring forward his process. You have a duty of care to the people that work within ICRIR.”

“Thank you, Chair. In many ways, Ms Warde Hunter, you have jumped into answering the question I was going to ask, unnecessarily and disappointingly for me, but I think the answers have been clarificatory and helpful. I have found some of the evidence that we have taken really disgusting on this issue. I have found it hu…”

“On the international aspect of this, it sounds as if, if both Governments are going to agree a body that is capable of operating cross-jurisdictionally, it is going to have an international feel, like a treaty-type organisation. Perhaps Ms Warde Hunter could answer this: are there discussions actively ongoing about bud…”

“I am not pushing back against the notion. I am trying to get a sense of how far advanced those discussions are and what is left to do. Finally, on this section—because the Chair is always curious to keep me going—on the Stormont committee that you appeared before, Sir Declan, you mentioned the need for Irish and intern…”

“Do you have any concerns about how that would work? Are the mechanics of that being explored at the moment in detail, or is it still just an aspiration on your part?”

“More substantively, the Stormont House agreement envisaged an information retrieval body that would operate cross-jurisdictionally. How much preparatory work has been engaged to expand ICRIR in a way that would incorporate Republic of Ireland jurisdictional and national security issues? Do you feel that that will form …”

“I do not disagree with that clarification.”

“I am worried about the contamination of commissioners. I invite you to reflect on the comments and to perhaps present it as needing a commissioner who understands Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and its state institutions in the same way that we have judges in the Supreme Court who understand the legal complexities of…”

“That is a separate point and why I want to focus on this. It seems curious that one of numerous commissioners would form that role as a commissioner.”

“To be clear, there is no commissioner representing the security services. There is no commissioner representing the national security interests of the Irish Republic or the UK Government.”

“So I was surprised to hear you mention earlier that you believe there should be a commissioner for Ireland, and, as you went on to say, somebody who can speak up for Ireland’s interests and their national security. Is that not a bit curious?”

“That is oversight, but the purpose of the initial question was to determine that, as chief commissioner, you are not there representing anybody.”

“But the purpose of you being there as a senior judicial figure is, by very definition, the independence that comes with that role.”

“Sir Declan, I want to move on to another series of questions, but I want to start it this way. You are chief commissioner. As chief commissioner, are you independent?”

“The indifferent silence. I raise this issue quite regularly, but I rarely hear others challenge the prejudice that is laced through some of the issues raised around conflicts of interest.”