Cost of inquiries into past killings 'hampering PSNI': The Irish Times - Gerry Moriarty

GERRY MORIARTY, Northern Editor THE COST of investigating killings that happened during the Troubles is "unsustainable" and is hampering current policing and attempts to clamp down on paramilitaries, according to the House of Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Committee. The committee yesterday reported that the Historical Enquiries Team, which is investigating more than 3,200 killings between 1968 and 1998, was unlikely to complete its task by the target date of 2011 and within its £34 million (€43 million) budget. The committee found that the team, which was established in 2005 and comes under the umbrella of the PSNI, had so far re-opened 1,100 cold cases with just one case referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions. It noted, however, that the re-opened cases go back to early in the Troubles and that as it examines... [read full story]