Sinn Fein has urged the British government to allow the transfer of more republican prisoners to prisons in Ireland, "at a time when efforts are being made to rebuild the Peace Process and instil confidence in it". The call came following the death on Thursday of Bill Butler, of Castleconnell, Co Limerick, whose son, Eddie, is entering his 22nd year in prison in England.
The Fianna Fail spokesperson on prison affairs, Mr Eamon O Cuiv, called on the British Home Secretary to grant parole on compassionate grounds to Eddie Butler to allow him to attend his father's funeral today.