The accelerated release of paramilitary prisoners, writes Rachel Donnelly from London, is "tough but necessary", and must be implemented with all other aspects of the Belfast Agreement, the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, said last night. If the peace process is to succeed, all parts of the agreement, including prisoner releases and the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons, must be implemented, she said.
Dr Mowlam was speaking at a meeting of the Durham North Constituency Labour Party in advance of next week's announcement of the first prisoners to be released under the agreement.
While "vital" safeguards had been built into the conditions of release, Dr Mowlam said she understood that relatives of the victims of violence would have difficulties with the early release of prisoners.
It is understood the Sentence Review Commission in the North has received a further 20 applications for early release, bringing the total number of applications to 466.