A woman whose parents were among nine people murdered in the IRA bombing on the Shankill Road in Belfast in 1993 cleared the first hurdle yesterday in a legal challenge to the decision of the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, that the IRA ceasefire is intact.
In the High Court in Belfast Ms Michelle Williamson was granted leave to apply for a judicial review of the decision.
Although Ms Williamson (35) is acting individually, she is effectively taking the case on behalf of the Ulster Unionist Party, whose leader, Mr David Trimble, with Mr Jeffrey Donaldson and Mr Ken Maginnis, was also in court.
Ms Williamson is angry that Shankill bomber Sean Kelly is due for early release next July despite her claim that the IRA ceasefire has broken down.
She said that under the Northern Ireland Sentences Act, which followed the Belfast Agreement, the Secretary of State had a statutory duty to decide whether a terrorist organisation was maintaining a "complete and unequivocal" ceasefire before prisoners could continue to be eligible for early release.
"Following the murder of Charles Bennett and the illegal procurement of arms in the USA, both of which were attributed to the IRA by the Chief Constable, I cannot understand how any reasonable person could possibly conclude that the IRA is maintaining a complete and unequivocal ceasefire," said Ms Williamson.
Her counsel, Mr Reg Weir QC, said the Secretary of State's decision was unreasonable and perverse. "How can an organisation which is murdering people and trying to import arms be said to be maintaining a complete and unequivocal ceasefire?" asked Mr Weir.
Granting leave for a judicial review, Mr Justice Kerr warned that in no sense must his decision be seen as a forecast of the outcome. "An applicant has only to establish an arguable case worthy of further investigation and I accept that modest hurdle has been met," he said. He gave lawyers for the Secretary of State two weeks to file replying affidavits and said that on October 4th he would lay down a programme for the hearing of the case.