He said: "For the SDLP the acid test for the development of the Girdwood site is straightforward - will 220 houses be built? That was the view of the SDLP in government and it is our view today.
"In May 2011, when the DSD ministry passed from the SDLP to the DUP, plans were well advanced to build 220 houses. In Girdwood we had the site, we had the money in place, design work was undertaken and a Housing Association was preparing a planning application. Above all, the plan had at its heart the core principle of meeting housing need and building 220 homes in an area of acute need.
"Of course, the SDLP wants to see the wider development and regeneration of the Girdwood site. But progress on regeneration must not be at the price of fair housing and housing need. As a party and in government, this has been our standard. That is why housing need was so central when both Margaret Ritchie and Alex Attwood were Housing Ministers. That was why £100 million was committed to the ‘Village’ area after years of neglect. That is why 220 houses are required at Girdwood - housing on the basis of real need and not creed.
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"There is a growing belief – hidden from some of those involved in the Girdwood discussions - that the outcome was pre-cooked by the DUP and Sinn Féin. How else can Peter Robinson's about-turn on the Maze be explained, moving from opposing ‘a shrine to the IRA’ to promoting ‘a Mecca for tourists’? How else can Sinn Fein’s abandonment of the principle of meeting housing need be reconciled with their long trumpeted support for 220 houses on the Girdwood site?
"The DUP and Sinn Fein have many questions to answer, questions which they avoiding. Did Sinn Féin concede on Girdwood and on housing need to get the Maze? Did DUP concede on the Maze to protect their electoral interests in North Belfast and damage the honest principle of meeting housing need there and everywhere?
"I am being clear on a core value of the SDLP and of our society. But I am going further – my party will be consulting with the Equality Commission and lawyers to interrogate the legality of the DUP/Sinn Fein fix. And I will announce a series of other ways to try to ensure full transparency, disclosure and accountability around this issue."
(CD/GK)
