Election candidates should be challenged on whether or not they support tougher jail terms for terrorists

Tougher sentences for those found guilty of paramilitary offences is indeed long overdue and must become ‘a political priority’ for all local parties.

Twenty-one years after the Good Friday Agreement and paramilitaries are continuing to bring murder and lawlessness onto our streets. They are also flooding our communities with drugs on a scale never seen before in the Province.

There is only one answer to ongoing paramilitarism and that is lengthy prison sentences to deter young men from joining.

There is a historic precedence for this strategy. Over the course of ‘the Troubles’ only two persons who received a sentence of over ten years ever reoffended.

One being Loyalist Killer Michael Stone whose mental health was questionable.

Interestingly, history shows that when the Irish Government also introduces tough prison sentences against Physical Force Irish Republicans , IRA campaigns are forced under-ground as they were in the 1920s and 1960s.

However the British and Irish Governments will only find the political courage to introduce and implement such sentencing if they are convinced there is sufficient cross community support.

All local parties must now put their recent words of condemnation into action.

In August 2017, the Alliance Party, the Green Party, People Before Profit, and the SDLP joined Sinn Fein on a platform calling for an Irish Language Act.

These parties must now be prepared to join all Unionist parties on a public platform calling for a minimum ten year sentence for anyone convicted of a serious paramilitary offence.

If any party refuses to do so then they must be singled out collectively by the others and pressured into outlining an alternative strategy.

Indeed, I would encourage voters who sincerely wish to see an end of paramiltarism to take the opportunity presented by the forthcoming elections.

Why not challenge every candidate who knocks their door to publicly commit to a position on the issue of tougher sentencing?

As Ben Lowry pointed out Sinn Fein do not want to commit on this issue.

However, Sinn Fein has been allowed to have their cake and eat it for too long. They easily condemn a murder which triggered universal condemnation throughout our society and beyond.

Yet their ideological baggage seems to prevent them from offering either the PSNI or the Gardai clear and unequivocal support in the fight against terrorism.

If the SDLP and centre parties are serious about their non-sectarian and enlighten credentials they cannot allow this position to continue.

They must join with Unionists in telling Sinn Fein its time to ‘put up or shut up’.

Sinn Fein must either give more vocal and unambiguous support for the rule of law on both sides of the border, or the other parties must collectively and publicly challenge their moral authority to condemn any future act of paramilitary violence.

Kirk McDowell BSc. Belfast BT5