Ex-paramilitary prisoners can serve on police board

FORMER IRA and loyalist paramilitary prisoners can serve on the North’s police local supervisory boards provided both sides totally abandon violence, Northern Ireland Secretary Mr Paul Murphy said yesterday.

The move came in the details of additional police reform legislation in Northern Ireland published in the British parliament yesterday and is aimed at securing Sinn Féin support for the new police force.

It also delivers on promises given to the SDLP during last year’s Weston Park talks in return for their becoming the first nationalist party in Northern Ireland to advise its supporters to join and support the police.