IRA bomb extradition case 'shows there can be no sell-by date on justice' says victims' campaigner Kenny Donaldson

DUP MP Carla Lockhart added that it demonstrates that "the opportunity for justice should never be closed", after a man was arrested and appeared in court in Dublin on Thursday, with the UK seeking his extradition.

Martin John McCauley, 61 and of Co Kildare, is to be charged with murder the court was told; his solicitors, Madden and Finucane, said he denies the charges and will fight extradition.

The bombing at the centre of the case killed three policemen: Sergeant Sean Quinn and constables Allan McCloy and Paul Hamilton on October 27, 1982, at Oxford Island, outside Lurgan.

Mr Donaldson, director of the South East Fermanagh Foundation, said of the arrest: "We welcome this development and we trust that due process can and will now follow.

"There never, ever should be a sell-by-date on justice nor accountability, and whilst the political system has done its best to subvert the criminal justice system over the last 26 years and more, there remain some minimal possibilities for justice pathways to be advanced.

"The murders of these three RUC GC officers was a brutal, pre-meditated act of terrorism.

"Three families (The McCloy's, Quinn's and Hamilton's) were left bereft of loved ones and the very least they deserve is accountability for what they have been subjected."

The Upper Bann MP Ms Lockhart said: “This case shows that despite the passage of more than 40 years, it is possible to see someone charged with the terrorist murder of three police officers.

"Whilst victims are realistic about the difficulties of securing justice after such a period of time, it highlights why the opportunity for justice should never be closed.

"Whilst any conviction in this case would only see a minimal sentence imposed, that would mean a perpetrator has been properly and publicly identified.

"The passage of time has done little to diminish the pain felt by many families who have suffered and perpetrators should never be able to feel they have escaped the possibility of justice being served."

And DUP party leader Gavin Robinson added: “Everyone should welcome the pursuit of justice and the efforts of those who have seen that progressed in this case.

"However, there are challenges for the PPS, because whilst a decision in this case was taken in advance of the of the justice eroding Legacy Act, too few others were.

"With the Labour government seeking to amend the Act, the provisions that brought prosecutions to an end will need to be re-examined.

"In cases where prosecutions are possible but the PPS simply failed to make a decision in advance of the deadline imposed by the Legacy Act, they should be revisited.”

He added that the case is “a timely, painful reminder of how many murders throughout the Troubles remain unsolved”.

According to the book Lost Lives, Sgt Quinn was a 37-year-old married father of three from Banbridge (and before that, Newry), Constable McCloy was a 34-year-old married father of two from Lurgan, and Constable Hamilton was a 26-year-old married man from Belfast.

The book recounts that the bomb was hidden in a culvert, and the explosion hit their armoured Ford Cortina and created a 15ft deep, 40ft wide crater.

It had been "detonated from nearby high ground".

Two IRA members suspected of involvement in the attack, Sean Burns and Eugene Toman, were themselves shot dead two weeks later by the police.