Erasing criminal records is 'airbrushing out history'

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 20th Aug 2003

ALLIANCE Councillor Stewart Dickson (Carrickfergus) has said that Sinn Fein proposals to erase the criminal records of convicted IRA is an attempt to rewrite history.

Councillor Dickson said: "Any proposals to wipe the IRA's terrorist slate clean are an affront to their victims and justice. Such attempts at rewriting history are no better than the revisionists who deny the Holocaust.

"If Sinn Fein's chief concern is the ability of ex-prisoners to gain employment, there are better ways to go about it than airbrushing the history books. The early release scheme in the Agreement was a bitter pill to swallow, but it was accepted at the time for the greater good.

"This proposal was not accepted, as it was a step too far. Sinn Fein's proposals are completely outside the Agreement, a criticism they have been only too happy to level at others in the past."