British newspaper 'The Sun' launches campaign against former IRA member and Donegal man John Downey

A British newspaper has launched a campaign against a Donegal man.

The Sun newspaper, launched the campaign against former IRA man John Downey this week, in an effort to have his case brought to court following the announcement that the relatives of the victims of the Hyde Park bombings had been refused legal aid.

In 2013 Mr Downey was charged with four counts of murder in relation to the Hyde Park attack in 1982 in London where the IRA detonated two bombs during British military ceremonies in Hyde Park and Regent's Park – both in central London.

However when his trial began in 2014 the case against Mr Downey collapsed after it emerged that a letter sent to him by the Police Service of Northern Ireland assuring him that he would not be prosecuted over the attack.

The discovery of the letter, guaranteeing immunity from prosecution led to calls of outrage from Unionist politicians as it emerged the letter had been sent by mistake to Mr Downey.

Since the decision of the Legal Aid Agency’s for England and Wales not to grant aid to the families resulted in The Sun launching the campaign.

The tabloid newspaper stated on their website: “Please support the campaign to bring IRA terrorist John Downey to court and get justice for victims’ families.”

“The Sun today backs a campaign to bring IRA terrorist John Downey before the courts not out of spite or revenge — but because these families deserve to see justice delivered,” the paper continued.

It is now asking members of the public to help raise €650,000 to fund a civil court action Mr Downey.

The on the run scheme process, agreed between Sinn Fein and the last Labour government, saw letters sent to republicans informing them they were not being sought by the authorities in the UK.

Police were asked to review the evidence to assess if they were either wanted or not wanted at that particular point in time.

Those who were not being actively pursued due to a lack of sufficient evidence received a letter from the government informing them of this.