Sinn Fein presents expanded list of North fugitives

By Jack Holland

The controversy over IRA members who are still on the run and seeking to return to Northern Ireland has become more complex, with more than 100 names now submitted by Sinn Fein for the British government’s consideration. Earlier, it was revealed that the IRA’s political wing had handed over a list of 41 names last fall. More recently, 61 names were added, and are now actively under consideration by the authorities.

Among the latest batch of OTRs are said to be two of the IRA’s most prominent activists, Michael Collins and Leonard "Hardbap" Hardy, both from the South Down area. Among the many killings to which Collins has been linked are the murders of two RUC men in Rostrevor in January 1983, gunned down as they sat in a police car near the family home of Ireland’s current president, Mary McAleese.

Hardy is sought for a series of bombings and shootings, including a car bomb in Banbridge in March 1982 which killed an 11-year-old boy.

Fourteen on the original list of 41 have been processed and are free to return to Northern Ireland, in some cases after the Royal Prerogative of mercy was used. They include Liam Averill, who was the last IRA man to escape from the Maze Prison, where he was serving a life sentence for murdering two Protestants in 1994; John Fusco; Angelo Fusco, a member of the IRA unit that included Joe Doherty that shot dead a undercover British soldier in 1980, and Robert Campbell, a former high-ranking member of the Belfast Brigade, who was also part of that unit, known as the M60 gang, because its members used the U.S.-made heavy machine gun in many of their operations.

In four other cases on the list of 41, individuals have been informed that they can return to make application to the Sentence Review Commission for a review of their sentence. Three of the four are in the United States. They are Pol Brennan, Terence Kirby and Kevin Barry Artt. Another name on the first list is that of Rita O’Hare. Currently the head of Friends of Sinn Fein in Washington D.C., O’Hare is wanted for the attempted murder of warrant officer Frazer Paton in Belfast in October 1971. She also faces malicious wounding and possession of firearms charges. O’Hare was arrested but escaped to the Irish Republic when freed on bail. In 1975, she was sentenced to three years in prison for attempting to smuggle explosives into Portlaoise Prison. On her release, an extradition warrant against her was dismissed by a Dublin court in March 1978.

Allowing OTRs to return has provoked widespread criticism, especially within the Unionist community, where it has been condemned as effectively an amnesty. The British government has denied this. A spokesman said that the 61 names will be considered on "a case by case basis."

The Director of Public Prosecutions will examine each to see whether any of them can be pursued.

Meanwhile, pressure has been growing on Sinn Fein from the SDLP for the expulsion orders to be lifted on individuals designated by the IRA as "anti-social" or "criminal" elements. As recently as April, an IRA threat forced a Derry man to flee to England.