Harry Maguire was convicted of the murders of corporals David Howes and Derek Wood, in March 1988.

In one of the most notorious attacks of the Troubles, the servicemen were beaten and then shot after accidentally driving into a republican funeral cortege in Andersonstown.

Maguire is now director of training at Community Restorative Justice Ireland, which is one of 10 projects in line for £600,000 from the Northern Ireland Office.

The decision has come under attack from the SDLP.

Maguire became a member of the IRA's "camp staff" in the Maze – one of the senior IRA men effectively in control of the republican wings.
Now he is known as a reformed character with responsibility for delivering street-level community justice, in cases of low-level crime in republican areas.

Yet in June, at the McCartney murder trial, he was referred to as a senior IRA boss, while now administering community-style policing alongside the PSNI.

This is one of a string of issues the SDLP has raised with the Security Minister in a document seen by the News Letter.

Contacted yesterday, Mr Maguire said he had "no comment" to make on allegations he was an IRA chief and called it "a legal matter".

The Northern Ireland Office has said the CRJI projects have come up to required standards, including the requirement to "engage, and have a direct relationship, with police".

Mr Goggins said he had "no cause for concern in the way that Community Restorative Justice (Ireland) schemes now operate".

But the SDLP, which sees the benefits of restorative justice in principle, is deeply concerned that the judgment of the standards has been lax and it has delivered an 11-page paper of concerns to the minister.

In a letter to Mr Goggins, Mr Attwood said his party believes there is "a substantive basis on which the Secretary of State should not accredit Community Restorative Justice schemes" for funding.

And he revealed that in a meeting with Criminal Justice Inspector (CJI) Kit Chivers – who was responsible for assessing CRJI's worthiness – it emerged that in various areas there was a feeling that more needed to be done to meet required standards of practice and behaviour by the CRJI.

The last CJI report on CRJ Ireland acknowledges as much by stating that "the balance between risks and opportunities has moved in favour of the restorative justice schemes" – giving it a partial clean bill of health, rather than a resounding one.

The SDLP goes on to allege numerous flaws and inaccuracies in the CJI report, some of which the authors have accepted, others they dispute.
Towards the end of the SDLP paper, the matter of Maguire being named in court as an IRA leader is raised.

Mr Attwood concluded: "Any decision to accredit and fund is a political one driven by the need of republicans.

"The NIO has been given a mountain of evidence as to why the Criminal Justice Inspector's report is flawed on many issues, including complaints. To accredit and fund Restorative Justice Ireland flies in the face of this evidence."

Ulster Unionist MLA Basil McCrea said he thought there could be a problem with Mr Maguire's involvement in CRJ.

Mr McCrea said: "The first thing is, the concept is a good one, but it depends on who you get involved in it and there's always a perception that it's an alternative to the police and it's not – there's only one police force.

"I don't know this individual's circumstances, but it does suggest that there are problems with this process and that's very unhelpful in our current political climate."

An NIO spokesman said: "The minister is satisfied that the Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice and his staff have been unambiguous in inspecting Community Restorative Justice Ireland (CRJI) schemes against the very high standards of the published Government protocol.

Inspection schemes go forward to the next stage of the process where an independent panel determines, on a case by case basis, if individuals meet the exacting standards required for those working in an accredited scheme. This process is on-going."