A Thought On Detention Without Trial

In this country we like to pride ourselves on learning from our mistakes. We don't do hysterical reactions to terror attacks, or countenance the erosion of our fundamental rights and freedoms. And if we do, we soon row back. So here's a warning from the past: from 1971 to 1975 the British government practised Internment on members of the Provisional IRA. The policy was a complete failure, contributing to the imposition of direct rule, the radicalisation of thousands of young Republicans and, in the words of one serving officer at the time, it "increased terrorist activity, perhaps boosted IRA recruitment, polarised further the Catholic and Protestant communities and reduced the ranks of the much needed Catholic moderates."

Sound familiar? It soon will.