Blueprint allows exiled paramilitaries to return

PARAMILITARIES exiled from Northern Ireland would be allowed to return home under the terms of the British and Irish Government’s blueprint for the peace process.

The blueprint, now temporarily shelved as a result of a stalled peace process, provided for a new body to establish the identity of those fugitives who qualify for return. A special judicial tribunal would also be set up to hear individual cases.

According to the proposals of the two governments, so called “On the Runs” would be covered by new legislation to be drafted in Britain. The legislation would define exactly who and what offences could qualify for the scheme. Clarification on the situation of exiled IRA members was something Sinn Féin had been pushing for, although it did not form part of the original Good Friday Agreement. The new measures, thought to be relevant to no more then a couple of dozen exiles, mainly relate to former IRA members.