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Further revelations about the controversial letters of comfort scheme that Tony Blairs government introduced sparked fury Wednesday, when it emerged that it allowed 95 IRA fugitives linked to 295 murders to walk free.
The so-called "letters of comfort" criticised as "get-out-of-jail cards" - told the suspects they were no longer wanted for crimes committed during the 30 years of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles.
The assistant chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), Drew Harris, told an inquiry by the Northern Ireland Affairs parliamentary committee that the IRA "On the Runs" who received letters were linked to 200 killings. The PSNI later corrected this, saying it was 200 incidents connected to 295 murders murders between 1969 and 1998. Harris also told the British inquiry that a total of 228 people had received such letters.
The secret letters were part of the background to the Northern Ireland peace agreement between Republicans who wanted a united Ireland (mostly Catholics) and Unionists who wanted to remain part of Britain (mostly Protestants). The letters only came to light in February in a London court case over an Irish Republican Army bombing. Harris (pictured left) is the first person to publicly reveal the full extent of the scheme.
Under the letters deal, in return for assurances that IRA operatives were not of interest to the police, the IRAs political wing, Sinn Fein, agreed to a broader peace pact under which the IRA would disarm and Sinn Fein would support a reformed police force and the rule of law. Nationalists had for years accused the Northern Ireland police of collusion and anti-Catholic bias.
