Pressure grows for explanation of bomber's re-arrest

Two Irish senators have joined calls for an explanation why convicted IRA bomber Sean Kelly was sent back to prison on Sunday.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern yesterday asked his officials to probe how Kelly breached the terms of his Good Friday Agreement release in 2000.

Senators Martin Mansergh and Maurice Hayes today both sought clarification from Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain on why he revoked the licence of the 33-year-old.

Kelly was originally jailed for bombing a Shankill Road fish shop in 1993 which killed his IRA accomplice and nine civilians.

Senator Mansergh, who was Northern Ireland advisor to three Irish premiers said of the licence suspension: “Few people would disagree with the principle but it is important that such decisions are adequately grounded and open to scrutiny.

“Otherwise it would represent a very arbitrary power,” he said in the Dublin Senate.

Senator Hayes, a former Northern Ireland Ombudsman, said: “A lot of people think the grounds for the revocation (of the licence) are decidedly iffy.

Speaking of Mr Hain, he added: “If he can’t tell us what his reasons, at least he can tell us he had reasons. I’ve got the impression that it had to do more with political expediency than with security.”

Mr Hain said that he acted on security intelligence that Kelly had become involved again with terrorist activity.

Independent Sentence Review Commissioners will now consider Kelly’s case and decide whether to revoke the licence he was given.

Mr Ahern said yesterday that he had asked officials at the Anglo-Irish Secretariat to try and find the reasons behind Kelly’s return to prison.

Unionist politicians welcomed Kelly’s rearrest and supported Mr Hain’s decision while Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams described the move as “deplorable“.

Mr Hain also warned that he would not hesitate to suspend the licence of other prisoners who got early release scheme under the Good-Friday Agreement if they presented a risk to the safety of others.