The Brighton bomber, Mr Patrick Magee, who has served only a third of his sentence, was freed from jail yesterday under the Belfast Agreement. His release was strongly condemned by the British Conservative Party.
A group of supporters was waiting to greet Mr Magee as he left the Maze prison. They included the veteran republican Mr Martin Meehan. Mr Magee declined to speak to journalists. Mr Meehan told reporters: "I am here as a republican and personal friend of Patrick Magee to welcome him home." He condemned Conservatives who opposed the release.
"It is hypocritical, because British soldiers have been released after a very short time on life sentence. Not one RUC man has been prosecuted for shoot-to-kill or collusion. "Patrick Magee has served the equivalent of a 14-year sentence. That is a life sentence in any standard of the imagination."
Commenting on Mr Magee's plans for the future, Mr Meehan said: "He is a very quiet and very inoffensive person, and I am sure he will want to settle back into life. "He will want to use his influence in the political struggle that the republican movement is involved in at the moment, and that is to implement the Good Friday agreement."
Two years ago, Mr Magee married the American novelist Ms Barbara Byer, after striking up a relationship with her through correspondence. It was his second marriage. Ms Byer is 15 years his junior. As Mr Magee walked out of the Maze, he was embraced by friends.
They led him to a car which sped off from the jail. His belongings, packed into six cardboard boxes, were stacked in the back of the car. Mr Magee (47) was given eight life sentences in September 1986 for seven offences relating to the bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton during the 1984 Tory party conference.
The Provisional IRA had been aiming to wipe out the British prime minister, now Baroness Thatcher, and her entire Cabinet. She escaped, but five people were killed and 34 injured. The then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Lord Tebbit, was seriously injured and his wife permanently paralysed in the attack.
Mr Magee was convicted of planting the bomb, exploding it, and of five counts of murder. The eighth life sentence was for conspiring to bomb 16 targets in London and at resorts around Britain. The judge, Mr Justice Boreham, described him as "a man of exceptional cruelty and inhumanity".
He recommended that he serve a minimum of 35 years.
Commenting on Mr Magee's release, the manager of the Grand Hotel in Brighton, Mr Richard Baker, said he would not hesitate to welcome him as a guest. Mr Baker, who ran the hotel at the time of the bombing, added: "As long as he didn't make himself objectionable to other guests or staff, people like himself are always welcome."