Another 25 prisoners were freed from jails across the North yesterday under the terms of the Belfast Agreement. They included a leading UDA prisoner, Robert Philpott, who held talks with the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, in the Maze prison in January. She visited the prison to try to hold the then fragile loyalist ceasefire together and prevent their political representatives from pulling out of the multi-party talks.
Some 17 republicans, seven loyalists and one non-aligned prisoner were freed yesterday, 17 from the Maze prison. They included two IRA inmates who are women. Four women have now been released under the Belfast Agreement.
A total of 167 prisoners have now been freed since the start of September. By Christmas, at least 200 are expected to have been freed.
Mr Andrew MacKay, the shadow Northern Secretary, is opposing the releases continuing while the IRA refuses to begin decommissioning its weapons. He said he saw no justification in freeing inmates early when not one gun or ounce of Semtex had been decommissioned.