“The Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games Council (NICGC) is ready to deliver a superb games which would showcase this region on a global scale, while inspiring a generation of young athletes and volunteers. It is a disgrace the Executive failed to provide the support necessary to provide for this event, meaning we will now miss out on the traditional handover.
“The former Minister for the Economy Simon Hamilton has serious questions to answer as to when he was in receipt of the outcome of the business case in relation to the games and if there were any issues, why they were not escalated to the rest of the Executive. That would have allowed the will of the Assembly – to host these games – to be taken into account.
“I have facilitated meetings between the NICGC and the Head of the Civil Service in order to seek movement on this issue. Regrettably, Ministerial authority was still needed to deliver on the clear support. It is unacceptable this situation has been allowed to develop – the young athletes deserve an explanation as to why from former Minister Hamilton.”