Blair agreed to ‘amnesty’ letters for IRA murderers
TONY Blair was behind the infamous IRA comfort letters which were the result of a deal hatched between his government and Sinn Fein.
The letters were messages of assurance sent to more than 200 suspects telling them they were no longer wanted by the police.
Critics said the letters were effectively an amnesty and a “get out of jail free card.”
As part of the Northern Ireland peace deal, IRA terrorists serving prison terms were granted early release, but that could not apply to those on the run.
Those no longer wanted by the police would be sent a letter informing them of that fact.
The controversy hit the headlines in the case of John Downey, a suspect in the 1982 IRA bombing in Hyde Park which left four soldiers dead.
In May 2013 he was arrested and charged with the murders, but the prosecution collapsed after it emerged he had been sent a comfort letter.
Senior criminal judge Mr Justice Sweeney ruled that the assurances given in the letter had to stand even though there had been a “catastrophic failure” in the case because Mr Downey had been sent the letter in error.
The emergence of comfort letters sparked a political row that almost brought down the powersharing government at Stormont.
An investigation led by Lady Justice Hallett concluded that the controversial scheme was “unprecedented and flawed” with “significant systemic failures”.
She said that victims of the IRA were kept in the dark about the scheme because the government kept it “below the radar”. However, she ruled that the letters were lawful and did not amount to an “amnesty” for those who received them.
Sinn Fein said the concession was necessary to restore confidence in the UK government’s commitment to deal with “On The Runs” to ensure the success of arms decommissioning, the review reported.
London has said it was a statement of fact carrying no future guarantees.