Calls for Bloody Sunday amnesty

Calls for Bloody Sunday soldiers to be granted amnesty on the back of a deal for IRA on-the-runs are inevitable and predictable, a senior Northern Ireland politician has said.

Mark Durkan, Foyle MP for the nationalist SDLP, said it is no surprise formersecretary of state Peter Hain is pushing the idea which he said was a direct result of selfish misdealing by Sinn Féin.

In a week when controversy over the on-the-runs scheme threatened to pull down Stormont’s devolved government, Mr Hain said it was clear for anyone who wanted to see that assurances given to IRA members were not get-out-of-jail cards, immunity or amnesty.