Hunger striker ‘would stop’ if call to clear name heeded

HUNGER striker, Kathryn Nelson, has indicated for the first time that she would be willing to suspend her protest if given guarantees that her complaints against the State would receive attention even after she resumed eating.

Ms Nelson, 57, who is in her sixth week of refusing food, said last night that messages of support she received this week had encouraged her to consider calling off her action. She said she would also be willing to accept an interim payment of several thousand pounds from the State to pay her immediate bills while she pursues a much larger compensation claim.

The Co Kildare-born woman, who worked as a diplomatic liaison officer for private investors in Bulgaria, wants her name cleared of involvement in laundering money from the £26.5 million Northern Bank raid in 2004. She says her reputation was ruined and she was left destitute after she was publicly identified as having been arrested on suspicion of money laundering following comments by Justice Minister Michael McDowell that the IRA had tried to hide money from the robbery in Bulgaria.