Rita O'Hare: Sinn Fein's representative to the US evaded due process for IRA attempted murder, says victims campaigner Kenny Donaldson

The Belfast woman, who has died at age 80, had been active in the civil rights movement, but after alleged involvement in the shooting of a soldier was never able to return to her home city.

Instead she divided her time between Dublin and Washington where she became Sinn Fein’s key link with leading US political figures, having been photographed with Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

She was arrested in NI in 1972 in connection with the attempted murder of a warrant officer Frazer Paton, but fled across the border to avoid prosecution after being released on bail.

An attempt to have her extradited was blocked by Dublin's High Court in 1978 on the grounds that it was a "political offence".

While living in the Republic, she continued her IRA activities and served three years in Limerick Prison on explosives charges in the late 1970s.

In 2014 it was reported that she had sought an 'amnesty' from the British government, however she reportedly never availed of the subsequent On-The-Run scheme.

The same year, Jonathan Powell, former chief of staff to Tony Blair, revealed that he had advised her not to travel to Belfast as she might be arrested.

Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald described her as a “powerhouse”. She was a former editor of An Phoblacht, and was SF general secretary and director of publicity.

She added: “An integral part of the Sinn Fein leadership at important stages of the party’s development and during era-defining stages of the peace process, Rita worked with great drive, energy and ability for the unity of Ireland, for a more just society, and for the cause of peace and reconciliation.

"A highly intelligent and strategic political thinker, Rita was also an articulate communicator and skilled publicist who was to the fore in pushing the boundaries, allowing Sinn Fein to develop into the modern, successful and popular political party that it is today.”

Kenny Donaldson, spokesman for Innocent Victims United, acknowledged that Ms O’Hare’s “immediate family will be grieving”.

However, he added that “in many ways she symbolises why the Irish State is not a neutral observer” on the Troubles”.

“The Irish authorities prevented her from being extradited to face serious terrorist charges on the grounds that they were ‘political offences’.

"This truly appalling law empowered terrorists to commit offences in Northern Ireland safe in the knowledge that once in the Irish jurisdiction they were then home and dry.

“Rita O’Hare was able to rebuild her life and to be elevated to rubbing shoulders with America’s elite, including Presidents. The innocent victims/survivors of terrorism know all too well the sheer hypocrisy of the US Administration War on Terror policies.

"“For innocent victims/survivors of terrorism Rita O’Hare will be remembered as someone who evaded due process for the attempted murder of Army Officer Frazer Paton in Belfast in October 1971.”

Last year in Parliament, DUP MP Ian Paisley cited her case when he attempted to amend the Troubles legacy bill to withhold immunity from people who fled the jurisdiction after being accused of a crime.

"Rita O'Hare was wanted for attempted murder," he said yesterday. "While she fled justice in the UK, today she will be accountable to the highest authority and answerable for her crimes."