Red Sky scandal

The Red Sky scandal was a political scandal in Northern Ireland that emerged in 2010 following a Spotlight investigation into Red Sky, a company based in Belfast which was awarded a maintenance contract by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. The investigation showed financial irregularities at the company and showed that work was being carried out at a "poor standard" in west Belfast. In April 2011, the £8 million contract was cancelled after the firm was found to be "significantly overcharging". Members of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) intervened and campaigned for an extension to the Red Sky contract, citing "sectarian bias" for the contract being cancelled.

Jenny Palmer, a DUP councillor, sat on the Housing Executive board. The board was due to discuss a request from the DUP's Minister for Social Development Nelson McCausland to extend Red Sky's contract. She alleged that Stephen Brimstone, McCausland's special adviser, pressured her into changing her vote at the meeting.

The Housing Executive chairman said that McCausland's interference into the Housing Executive "amounted to an unwarranted and improper interference".

In 2010, a BBC investigation found that there were complaints against the firm Red Sky dating back to 2007. The complaints centred around Red Sky's work in west Belfast being of "poor standard". In two cases, it was discovered that Red Sky had billed the Housing Executive for work that was never actually completed. In April 2011, the company went into voluntary administration after the Housing Executive had cancelled their contract after an investigation concluded that there were concerns of fraud.

Nelson McCausland, the Minister for Social Development, asked the Housing Executive to reinstate Red Sky's contract until such a time where a system for awarding new contracts is introduced. At an emergency meeting of the Housing Executive, the board decided not to overturn its decision.

The Housing Executive "raised concerns" in a letter to its board members about meetings "held between McCausland, First Minister of Northern Ireland Peter Robinson and other DUP elected representatives with the former senior management at Red Sky." The executive asked whether the meetings "constituted canvassing and lobbying for government contracts in breach of public procurement principles". The executive also called McCausland's intervention on the issue "incomprehensible".

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Wikipedia