LETTERS of comfort sent by the British government to Irish republicans under the On the Runs scheme were “pivotal” to the success of the peace process, Sinn Féin claimed today.
Despite the release of a Northern Ireland Affairs Committee report into the scheme questioning their legality, the party’s Trevor Ó Clochartaigh claims the letters were “crucial” to move the peace process along.
“We stand by the validity of the On the Runs letters and it is important that we do that because what people tend to do - particularly in the south of Ireland - is take for granted that the peace process is done and dusted and that there was a Good Friday Agreement and that we don’t need to worry about it anymore,” Senator Ó Clochartaigh, who was recently appointed as the first official Diaspora spokesperson for the party, told The Irish Post today.
Based in Connemara in Co. Galway, the Huddersfield-born politician further addressed the British Government’s admission, in the report published earlier this week, that the controversial OTR scheme, implemented by then Prime Minister Tony Blair, had “distorted” the legal process.
“The use of the letters of comfort was key, it was crucial and anything that is being done to undermine that now is a very retrograde step,” he said.
“It’s important that Tony Blair, as Prime Minister at the time, said this week that he believed it was pivotal and absolutely crucial to move things forward from the point of view of the peace process that these letters were in place, and we would agree with that.”
He added: “I am more concerned about the approach that the Irish government takes to issues in the six counties - that they are very hands off.
“Ongoing issues, such as the crisis we have over social welfare and the budget in the North, the Government here and in Westminster have washed their hands of really.
“They say they are local issues that must be sorted out locally, but they have to realise that their role as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement is crucial and they need to step up to the mark on their commitments in that regards, to make sure that their commitments are being fully implemented.”
Under the On the Runs scheme 200 letters were issued to republicans suspected of involvement in Troubles-related crimes, but who had never been charged, stating that they were not wanted by the PSNI or any British police force.
