Prisoner release a 'bitter pill to swallow' for Kilkeel family

THIS month marks the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement.

The accord, which received support from all of Northern Ireland’s major political parties except for the DUP and was overwhelmingly endorsed in referendums on either side of the border, was lain in place to put an end to the over thirty year period of sectarian bloodshed in N.I often euphemistically referred to as “The Troubles”

Whilst for many the historical context in which the agreement was composed may have been imbued with a distinct flavour of optimism for the future, with the prospect of an agreement that would put a permanent end to the almost perpetual cycle of violence that had engulfed the country since the late 1960s coming into effect , one of the most controversial aspects of the accord was early release of prisoners from jail.

Under the terms of the agreement paramilitary prisoners who had carried out some of the most heinous atrocities of the troubles would be released from their incarceration after having only served two years in prison.

Whilst some may have viewed this measure as a necessary compromise to ensure the implementation of a long lasting peace in the country, for others watching prisoners who carried out some of the worst atrocities of the troubles walk free after only serving a period of two years in jail was too difficult a measure to reconcile with.

One such individual who fall’s into this category is Kilkeel born woman Sandra Harrison, who's older brother Alan was killed at the hands of Republican Paramilitaries in 1988.

Killed on his way into to work

Alan (pictured right) was a part -time Lance Corporal in the UDR and was shot at close range by an armed gunman as he made his into work at the Kilkeel Joinery works in February 1988, with his killer later making good their escape in a hijacked vehicle which was waiting nearby.

Although the gunman who pulled the trigger on Lance Corporal Johnston, who was only 23 at the time of his killing, was never convicted for the part they played in the UDR mans murder, another individual who was believed to have gathered information pertaining to Mr Johnston’s movements was put on trial in December of the same year as his killing and sentenced to life in prison for his part in the crime.

However, despite this the same man who was convicted in relation to the killing in 1988 was, like so many other prisoners at the time of the signing of the GFA, later released early in accordance with the measures laid out in the document.

Now speaking from the perspective of a family member who lost a cherished loved one at the hands of paramilitary violence, Alan’s younger sister Sandra has explained why it is that even 25 years after the Good Friday Agreement she and her family still find the early release of prisoners which was facilitated by the agreement as being in her own words “ a bitter pill to swallow”

Lovely young man

“My brother Alan was 23 whenever he was killed in 1988 and I was 20. Alan was the youngest of the three brothers in the family.

“He was a lovely young man who had a big circle of friends. After only being in the UDR for a couple of years he had attained the rank of Lance Corporal so he was well thought of in the UDR as well. He was a hard-working young man who went out to work during the day and then he did his duties in the UDR which he loved. He loved the company in Kilkeel that he was based in.

“I was at home with my parents the morning that my brother was killed. I remember the police car arriving and one of the policemen running upstairs to tell my dad who was still in bed what had happened. My mum and myself came downstairs and the police told us the news.

“It is hard thinking back to what happened but it is so clear in my mind what happened. We were so shocked about what happened and were shocked at the very fact that Alan had died more so than the way he had died, the shock that he died hit us first. For my mum and dad to lose their youngest boy they never got over it and it just affected us in all different ways.

“However we were inundated with support from the large circle of family and friends within the local community and the support shown from our minister at the time, Reverend David McCaughey. So really it was the support shown from the community and from our minister that carried us through these first few days.”

Justice Sacrificed

Whilst many within Northern Ireland may have viewed the early release of prisoners from jail as a necessary compromise to ensure the full implementation of the agreement, according to Sandra such a measure was for a family like theirs that had lost a loved one as a result of the violence of the troubles “ a step too far.”

“One of the men involved in my brothers killing was imprisoned and he did serve time in prison but he was released early under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. As a family we were totally disappointed by what the Good Friday Agreement did in regards the early release of prisoners and the result of this. This was very, very difficult to take.

“As a family we didn't support the Good Friday Agreement as it was just a step too far to ask victims to sacrifice justice and to watch prisoners walk out of prison as the result of a decision that someone had made, this was very, very difficult. Putting it mildly it was a bitter pill to swallow. Losing Alan had such an impact on our lives so we just couldn't support the agreement morally. “We couldn't understand why the prisoners had to be released as part of the agreement and although there has been peace, we still don't agree with what happened regarding prisoner release. We paid the price for peace twice, first with losing Alan and then with someone who was involved in his murder getting out of jail early, so we have paid a lot as victims. You would need to have walked in the shoes of a family that had lost someone to understand the total despair that we felt at the time. As a family we would have wanted to have seen the individual convicted serve his full sentence as you do feel short changed. Justice has never really been administered if they get out early.

“Not only that but the man sentenced for involvement in my brothers killing was a local man and he was back out walking the streets of our town. This is very difficult and this is the element of early prisoner release that is very difficult to reconcile yourself with. The prisoners are released early and then the families of those who were killed have to live with looking at those who were involved in the killing of their relatives, how do you live with this? You can never be comfortable knowing that you might see them when you are going to do your shopping or going to the petrol station, you are always looking over your shoulder.”