SDLP slams DUP call for release of LVF murderers

The SDLP has slammed calls by a DUP press officer for the release of two loyalists convicted of carrying out a 1998 double-murder in Co Down.

The two Loyalist Volunteer Force men murdered Protestant and Catholic friends Philip Allen and Damian Treanor in a bar in Poyntzpass.

The LVF announced its disbandment at the weekend, but SDLP spokesperson Sharon Haughey said this did not warrant the release of the two murderers.

"This is a very wrong time for the DUP to be calling for the release of these brutal killers," she said.

"The ink hasn't even dried on the LVF statement."