“Secret letter” scandal exposes fragile power-sharing
The recent crisis in Northern Ireland over secret letters from the British Government to republican “On the Runs” (OTRs) underscores the fragility of the power-sharing institutions. The crisis emerged after the trial of John Downey, accused of the 1982 Hyde Park bombing, collapsed. It emerged that he received a letter in 2007 from the British Government telling him he would not face trial. Northern Ireland’s First Minister, Peter Robinson, threatened to collapse the power-sharing Executive if the British Government failed to call a judge-led inquiry into the “get out of jail free cards” (in...