Failte Abhaile Pearse agus Kevin

Ógra Shinn Féin welcomes home Pearse McCauley and Kevin Walsh and we also wish them the best of luck. Both men have been released this morning from Castlerea jail in Roscommon after 10 years of imprisonment.

Speaking this morning Ógra spokesperson Barry McNally said;

“These men should have been released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. Time and again Ógra have called for their release through motions to the Ógra Congress, protests, particular through prisoner’s month of December and by our continued activism. We have also visited the men in Castlerea on numerous occasions.”

“When the IRA called an end to the armed campaign in 2005 it removed any pretext for the continued incarceration of these men. It was the men themselves who announced that they no longer wished to be used as a blockage to the peace process and publicly stated that their release would play no further part in political negotiations. They now have served that sentence.”

“While we welcome the release of Pearse and Kevin, and the decision by the British to end extradition proceedings against Pearse, there are also issues of concern regarding the issue of so called ‘Criminal records’ for POWs imprisoned for their role in the conflict in Ireland. We would once again call for their abolition. Not only do they affect employment opportunities but they also have negative consequences for travel abroad as well as many other aspects of everyday life.”

Failte abhaile Kevin agus Pearse agus adh mór ó Ógra Shinn Féin.

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