A member of the House of Lords has called for the transfer from British jails of the IRA's Balcombe Street gang. Lord Hylton, speaking at a conference yesterday in Dublin highlighting delays under the Transfer Act, also advocated speeding up the repatriation of other Irish prisoners. The humanitarian transfer of republican prisoners would be a "positive contribution to confidence-building" in the peace process, Lord Hylton said.
A report compiled by the Transfer of Prisoners Group showed that only 18 prisoners were transferred in 1996 and 1997, accounting for just 15 per cent of those who had applied for, or expressed an interest in, transfers since November 1995.
Of the applications actively processed by the Department of Justice in December 1996, 63 per cent had still not been fully processed. But he welcomed the recent transfer of three republican prisoners.
The British and Irish governments should "make a special effort" on behalf of the Balcombe Street gang, he said.
Martin O'Connell, Eddie Butler, Harry Duggan and Hugh Doherty were arrested after a sixday siege in London and convicted in 1977 of six murders, one manslaughter and a series of bomb attacks and firearms offences. They were jailed for more than 30 years each.
It was the Balcombe Street gang which claimed to have carried out the Woolwich and Guildford pub bombings in 1974.
Lord Hylton urged the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, and the British Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, to streamline arrangements in order to clear the backlog of outstanding cases.
Ms Edel Kelly, whose husband Patrick is on remand in the special secure unit at Belmarsh Prison, said there had been "no real action" by the recently-elected British government.