Seven republican prisoners in jail in England are to be returned to Ireland later this week in the largest single repatriation under the new measures. The transfer involves one third of the republican prison population left in England, leaving about a dozen prisoners still there.
"The likelihood is that seven prisoners will be transferred this week, subject to the operational arrangements being finalised between the two jurisdictions," a spokesman at the Department of Justice said.
Other senior sources denied suggestions that the transfers were to go ahead last week but were postponed because of the visit of the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, to loyalist prisoners in the Maze.
The Irish authorities went to the High Court last week to procure the necessary clearance for the transfers. The men will be taken to Portlaoise Prison to complete the tariffs imposed in Britain. The Government amended legislation shortly before Christmas to ensure that prisoners returned to the Republic to serve their sentences would complete the tariffs implemented in Britain. Five of the prisoners due to be repatriated were sentenced to 35 years last July for conspiring to cause explosions in Britain.
They are: Gerard Hanratty, from Belfast; John Crawley, a former US marine who was also captured with Mr Martin Ferris on board the Marita Ann trawler in 1984; Francis Rafferty, from Belfast; Donal Gannon, Dublin, and Robert Morrow, Dundalk.
The other prisoners are Liam O Dhuibhir and Peter Sherry. The group of prisoners who will remain in England includes four men - known as the Balcombe Street Gang - who are serving indeterminate life sentences with a recommendation that they complete at least 30 years.
Under the present arrangements, they cannot be repatriated until a specific tariff is imposed. There is no indication yet when the Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, will set a sentence.