Another chapter in the Northern Ireland Troubles closed yesterday with the release of the final batch of republican and loyalist inmates from the Maze Prison which will now be shut. Only 14 prisoners, guarded by 120 officers, remain inside and they are expected to be moved soon to neighbouring Maghaberry Jail.
There were extraordinary scenes outside the Maze as 78 inmates - some responsible for the worst incidents of the conflict - were freed. They included the Shankill bomber, Sean Kelly; Torrens Knight, who was jailed for killing 11 people, including those in the Greysteel gun attack; and four members of the IRA's south Armagh sniper team.
Seven men were also freed from Maghaberry and another from Magilligan Jail in Co Derry. It was the final phase of releases under the terms of the Belfast Agreement. A total of 428 prisoners have been freed over the past two years, including 143 serving life sentences.
Those released yesterday included 46 IRA, 15 UDA, 11 UVF, six LVF, seven INLA and one non-aligned prisoner. Their spokesmen all pledged themselves to work for peace and said they hoped conflict was banished. The releases were welcomed by Sinn Fein, the SDLP, and the fringe loyalist parties.
The Northern Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson, said they were a "bitter and difficult pill to accept" but he believed the peace process would justify the pain. However, the Rev Ian Paisley said continuing with the releases in the absence of decommissioning was sickening.
It took 2 1/2 hours to empty the Maze. There was a huge media presence outside the jail, where hundreds of supporters had gathered. The prison service phased the releases to ensure that loyalist and republicans did not meet.
First out were the UVF inmates. They adopted a low-key approach, leaving through a side gate and declining to give media interviews. Their political representative, Mr William Smith, of the Progressive Unionist Party, said: "We acknowledge the release of the prisoners will not be welcomed by everyone and we understand and sympathise with that view. It is not our intention to glorify this occasion."
LVF inmates also slipped away quietly with Torrens Knight and Norman Coopey - jailed for beating a Catholic schoolboy to death - going to considerable lengths to hide their faces.
The UDA opted a more high-profile approach. Around 100 supporters, including Johnny Adair, waved paramilitary flags as the prisoners were released. There were shouts of "U-UUFF" and "Up the UFF rocket team" as their political representative, Mr Johnny White, attempted to read a speech.
Many of the loyalist inmates tried to disguise themselves. The republican inmates made no such attempts, although none spoke to the press. The Provisional IRA men were greeted by Sinn Fein Assembly member, Mr Gerry Kelly, who said they posed no danger to society.
Confetti and party streamers were thrown over the men, including the Canary Wharf bomber, James McArdle, as they emerged. Also released was Bernard McGinn, who made the 1992 Baltic Exchange bomb which killed two people, and who was involved in the murder of Lance bombardier Stephen Restorick in 1997, the last British soldier to be killed in the North.
The IRA `officer commanding' in the jail, Jim McVeigh, said republicans understood the hurt of others but he added: "We walk free from this prison camp proud republicans, unbowed and unbroken."
A single prisoner was released in the Republic. Padraig Steenson (36), from the North Strand, Dublin, was freed from Castlerea Prison in Co Roscommon having served 2 1/2 months of a seven-year sentence for explosives and firearms offences.