State papers: Irish authorities 'doubtful' of IRA links to daring Chile jailbreak

Two of the inmates had been serving jail sentences for the murder of a right-wing senator in 1991, while they were also convicted of an attempted assassination on the then-Chilean military leader, Augusto Pinochet (pictured), in 1986. File photo: AP/Santiago Llanquin

The Irish ambassador to Chile and gardaí were initially doubtful about claims by the authorities in Chile of IRA links to a daring escape of four high-security left-wing guerillas from a jail in Santiago in 1996.

Newly-released, confidential government files show the security forces in Chile had strong evidence that two sisters from Dublin had a role in arranging the helicopter that was used to break out the terrorists from prison on December 30, 1996, during a gunfight with prison security staff.