'It was a bad taste in your mouth.' The early release of paramilitary prisoners was probably the most controversial aspect of the Good Friday Agreement - 25 years on it is still a bitter pill to swallow for some victims' relatives, writes julianoneill
"It leaves a bad taste in your mouth" - the killer of June McMullan's husband served two years because of the Good Friday AgreementOff-duty policeman John Proctor was shot dead in the grounds of a hospital, where he had just been to visit his wife and newborn son."He was riddled from top to bottom with 17 bullets and as he lay dying on the ground they stepped over him and finished it," she says.
The release of paramilitary prisoners was one of the consequences of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which brought an end to 30 years of bloodshed.June, pictured with John and their eldest son, heard the gunfire that killed her husband The legislation that enabled their early release still remains in place, meaning most people who are convicted today of a Troubles-era offence can apply to be let out after two years of their sentence.The 25-year-old was murdered in 1981 at the Mid Ulster Hospital in Magherafelt, County Londonderry, by the IRA.
A condition to prisoners being freed - technically they are out on a licence which could be revoked - was that they be affiliated to organisations that maintain their ceasefires.One of the Maze Prison's H-blocks - the prison has been empty since its closure in 2000
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