What was the real reason for the big shake-up at NI Water last week? Four independent directors sacked last March were replaced by temporary appointees on the grounds that a relatively tiny number of transactions had been conducted poorly. But was this a post-hoc rationalisation for a decision that was taken for other, more political reasons?
The NI Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee declined the offer to question directly the former chairman of Northern Ireland Water – who, along with the non-executive directors, disputes the circumstances of their dismissal in March. Meanwhile, as the BBC notes, the NI Regional Development Minister, Sinn Féin’s Conor Murphy, has appointed 4 new non-executive directors to the Board of NI Water by “an emergency process”. The new directors are: Mairtin O’Muilleoir, a Belfast businessman and former Sinn Fein councillor; Peter Bunting, …
