Ireland Frees IRA Prisoners, Asks Britain to Do Same

Ireland freed five IRA supporters from prison Friday in a gesture toward peace and urged Britain to follow suit.

The release, the second during the five months the Irish Republic Army has observed a cease-fire, came at a delicate moment in negotiations toward peace.

A leaked document this week raised fears among Northern Ireland’s Protestant majority that Britain and Ireland are negotiating the eventual union of the British province and the Irish republic.

Militant “loyalists” opposed to the IRA campaign to end British rule in Northern Ireland declared their own truce Oct. 13. They and the IRA have been pressing for the release of imprisoned supporters.

But Friday’s release was denounced as capitulation by Northern Ireland’s Protestant legislators. “It’s giving in to terrorism,” the Ulster Unionist Party’s David Trimble said. Among those freed Friday was Pamela Kane, the only woman among IRA prisoners in the republic. She was jailed in 1990 for 10 years for armed robbery and had not been due for release until 1997.

The others are Pat Flanagan, serving 10 years; John McBride, serving 18 months, and Ken Gaffney and Stephen Sheedy, serving three years. All were convicted of arms possession and had been due for release no later than May, 1996.