The post of Victims Commissioner in Northern Ireland is to be readvertised, the Rev Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness announced today.
The Stormont First Minister and Deputy First Minister said they were encouraging new applicants for the £65,000-a-year job because they believed it would strengthen the office if the selection process was carried out under devolution.
They denied the failure to appoint a commissioner from a field drawn up during direct rule was as a result of in-fighting between them.
The men also pledged their support to whoever is appointed before the end of the year to succeed Bertha McDougall who was the Interim Victims Commissioner.