Ms Long faced questions by MLAs on Monday over her statement to them last Tuesday.
asserted
Long → face → them
Asked whether she had misled MLAs, Ms Long said that what she said last Tuesday was based on information available to her at the time.
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said → ask → time
“I accept that what I said in the chamber last week was based on the information that was available to me at that time, and there is additional information,” she said.
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she → accept → time
“I have already apologised both to the family over the airwaves and to the people of this chamber over the airwaves, and I’m happy to apologise again because there was no intention on my part to mislead this chamber.
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I → apologise → chamber
I was fully candid about the information that I had at that time.
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I → have → time
Earlier, Ms Long said she wants to apologise personally to the family of Karol Kelly, and that she has ordered a review to probe the sequence of events which saw his killer Gary Anderson granted temporary release to attend his father’s funeral and then fail to return to prison.
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killer → say → prison
Anderson absconded last Monday after being granted temporary release from Maghaberry Prison to attend his father’s funeral in Londonderry.
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Anderson → abscond → Londonderry
A police hunt remains ongoing, and An Garda Síochána in the Irish Republic have also been involved because of the proximity of where he disappeared to the border.
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he → remain → border
The public have been advised not to approach him.
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public → advise → him
The 29-year-old was sentenced in 2023 to 15 years for the murder of Karol Kelly in Derry.
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old → sentence → Derry
Father-of-five Mr Kelly died in Grafton Street in the city in the early hours of March 4 2018, after an altercation during which he was stabbed several times.
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he → die → which
Anderson and his brother, Sean Anderson, were found guilty of the killing.
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Anderson → find → killing
Both prisoners had applications for temporary compassionate leave to attend their father’s funeral turned down by the prison authorities.
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applications → have → authorities
Those decisions were challenged in the courts and while the decision to refuse leave to Sean Anderson was upheld, the court ordered that Gary Anderson could be temporarily released with conditions attached.
uncertain
Anderson → challenge → conditions
He queried an answer given by Ms Long in response to an urgent oral question in the Assembly on the issue last week.
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He → query → issue
At the start of Monday’s Assembly session, Speaker Edwin Poots said it appeared that the information provided in the House at that time “was not fully accurate”.
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information → say → time
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“It is the responsibility of any minister or member to inform the Assembly and correct the record at the earliest opportunity if they discover that the Assembly was told something, even inadvertently, that was subsequently discovered to be inaccurate,” he told MLAs.
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he → read → MLAs
“The justice minister was in touch with my office over the weekend to make arrangements to bring a statement to the House on these matters today, and I welcome that.”
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I → make → that
He added: “I do want to point out, particularly to officials, that I do not expect any minister to be put in a position where they are exposed in the Assembly because they have not been given full information.”
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they → add → information
Ms Long is set to make a statement to the Assembly later.
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Long → set → Assembly
Earlier, Ms Long said she is “very unhappy” about what happened.
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what → say → ?
Referring to a number of issues, including around communication, Ms Long said it is important that the review is independent, and undertaken by someone outside the Northern Ireland Prison Service and her department.
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review → refer → Service
“They can look at all of the information and hopefully come up with recommendations to ensure that we see no repetition,” she added.
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she → look → repetition
Ms Long said Mr Kelly’s family have been “subject to trauma and distress as a result of Anderson’s release and escape”.
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family → say → release
“They’re at the forefront of my mind, and if they are willing I want to meet with them personally to apologise, I think that is the least as minister that I owe them,” she said.
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she → ’re → them
“There is also the wider issue of public safety which has been compromised by his escape, and whilst no decision is responsible for his behaviour, it contributed to it and that causes me real concern.”
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that → be → concern
She added she still had full confidence in the prison system operation at Maghaberry.
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she → add → Maghaberry
“I am obviously, like everyone else, questioning the decision made in this case, and the various stages leading up to it, but that doesn’t shake my confidence in the Prison Service
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that → question → Service
,” she said.
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she → say → ?
“There is a huge amount of very difficult and very dangerous work that goes on behind the walls of our prisons every day, people are having to, in live time, risk assess every prisoner and situation in order to keep themselves and the public safe, and to keep our prisons safe.
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people → be → prisons
“That is a really tough job to do and particularly at the moment in Maghaberry where we are at capacity and indeed we are really under pressure in terms of the work that has to be done.
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that → do → work
“One incident cannot shake our confidence in an entire system, but I want to do the independent review of this because I want to restore public confidence in the system.”
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I → shake → system
The Aporia
