IRA Ceasefire: Four inmates at the centre of controversy

THOMAS QUIGLEY: Given three life sentences in 1985 for the murders of two civilians and a bomb disposal expert in London. Those who died were Nora Field, 59, and John Breslin, 18, in a bomb blast at Chelsea barracks, and Kenneth Howorth, who was trying to defuse an IRA device in Oxford Street.

GERARD McDONNELL: Was tried with Magee and sentenced to life imprisonment at the age of 35. He was convicted of conspiring to cause a series of explosions at various seaside resorts. When he was arrested in Glasgow he had a loaded automatic pistol in the waistband of his trousers.

PATRICK McLAUGHLIN: Alleged to have links with the Irish National Liberation Army, McLaughlin, 34, from Londonderry, was given life in 1986 for conspiring to plant a bomb outside Chelsea barracks in 1986. In recent years a campaign protesting his innocence has gathered momentum.

PATRICK MAGEE: In 1986, aged 35, he was given eight life sentences for his part in the bombing of the Grand Hotel, Brighton - which killed five people - during the 1984 Tory party conference. The judge recommended he should serve a minimum of 35 years.

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