Statement by TUV vice-chair Keith Harbinson:

“While some would foolishly argue that Republicans have put their bloody criminal past behind them, the call by Sinn Fein’s youth wing to remember those who they describe as the “political hostages” held in Northern Ireland and the Republic tells a different story.

“They suggest that people write to the Republican movement’s “POWs” and provides the dates of their birthdays, but who are these so-called Prisoners of War?

“Well among those listed are Kevin Walsh and Pearse McAuley who are serving sentences for the manslaughter of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe during the attempted robbery of a post office. Hardly something one would naturally associate with honorable soldiers in a war!

“Another of those listed is Don Bullman. Bullman was sentenced to four years in prison for membership of the IRA after Garda investigating money laundering following the 2004 Northern Bank robbery found £60,000 in a Daz washing powder box. 

“It is grossly offensive to those who have suffered at the hands of the Provisionals to suggest that these individuals are anything other than common criminals. The fact that Sinn Fein’s youth wing could seek to portray them as anything else suggests to me that Republicans' warped view of what constitutes criminality remains unaltered and thriving ina new generation of Republicans.

“They evidently continue to believe that the IRA has the right to murder police officers, carry out robberies and handle stolen goods. Not only that but they believe such people can be described as “political hostages”.