Northern Ireland needs longer jail terms for terrorism as much as Great Britain does

It is unbelievable in the sense that the Province in some respects is most at risk from terrorist violence.

While dissident republicans have not inflicted an atrocity since 1998, and the mainland has since that date had several Islamic attacks in which multiple civilians have been murdered, the number of terrorist murders per capita in Northern Ireland is much higher than most other parts of the UK.

The dissident terrorists are relatively small in number but are determined and dangerous, and particularly active in parts of Fermanagh, Londonderry and Craigavon.

On a number of occasions civilians have been at grave risk, such as the car bomb outside a court in Londonderry last year, after a number of people had walked past the vehicle. All the while, PSNI and prison officers are being targeted.

The conviction rate after murders has been low, because it is so hard to prove to the criminal standard the guilt of a terrorist who is determined to cover their tracks.

If terrorists are no longer to be released early in Great Britain, then Northern Ireland as much as anywhere is in need of the same provision.

Indeed, it is more in need of such a reform given the existing soft sentencing policy. While jail terms for some serious offences such as murder has edged up in recent years, this newspaper has highlighted a number of cases in which a dissident convicted of a lesser terrorist offence, but still very serious one, has had a lenient sentence.

Not only that, but bail policy in Northern Ireland is ridiculously slack for people being held on grave terrorist charges.

There was wide agreement on that just before the fall of the last assembly, including the Alliance Party.

Now Stormont is back so the tightening of bail and sentencing is within the executive’s grasp.