End prosecutions for killings during Northern Ireland's Troubles, says attorney general More than 3,500 people died in the 30-year conflict in Northern Ireland John Larkin QC has called for an end to 'prosecutions, inquests and other inquiries' into deaths before the 1998 Good Friday Agreement Mr Larkin said this would not amount to an amnesty - the pre-1998 offences would still be crimes but they would no longer be prosecuted David Cameron says the Government has no plans to end prosecutions Family of murder victims condemn the proposals Already a maximum two-year sentence for all killings during the Troubles Murders which took place in Northern Ireland during the Troubles should not be prosecuted or investigated any more, Northern Ireland's attorney general has said. John Larkin QC said that 15 years after the Good Friday peace agreement, it was time to 'put a line' under all killings carried out before 1998. More than 3,500 people died during the 30-year conflict in Northern Ireland, and the suggestion has sparked fury from the family of murder victims. No prosecutions: Killings carried out during the Troubles should no longer be investigated, the Northern Ireland attorney general has said. Here British soldiers examine an armoured Land Rover which was damaged during a grenade attack in 1997 A Historical Enquiries team was set up in 2006 to investigate the estimated 1,800 unsolved killings. If Mr Larkin's proposals were accepted, there would be no further inquests, prosecutions or inquiries into deaths linked to the Troubles that happened before the historic agreement. The Omagh bomb in 1998, which was perpetrated after the Good Friday agreement, would not be covered by Mr Larkin's suggestion. David Cameron distanced himself from the suggestions and said there were no plans to end prosecutions. Mr Larkin told the BBC: 'More than 15 years have passed since the Belfast Agreement, there have been very few prosecutions, and every competent criminal lawyer will tell you the prospects of conviction diminish, perhaps exponentially, with each passing year, so we are in a position now where I think we have to take stock. It strikes me that the time has come to think about putting a line, set at Good Friday 1998, with respect to prosecutions, inquests and other inquiries. Mr Larkin, the chief legal adviser to the Stormont Executive, has stressed his proposals did not amount to an amnesty. Conflict: Riots in Belfast following the death of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands in 1981. The announcement that deaths prior to 1998 will not be investigated has sparked anger He added: 'Sometimes the fact of an amnesty can be that that which was a crime ceases to be a crime. That wouldn't be the position here, it would simply be that no criminal proceedings would be possible with respect to those offences.' Proposal: Northern Ireland attorney general John Larkin QC said he was not proposing an amnesty - but deaths prior to April 1998 would no longer be prosecuted Mr Larkin said that families of victims should be given full access to records so they could find out what happened to their loved ones. Peter Hain, the former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, described the proposals as 'commonsense' in a Tweet. he added: 'Best to help Victims & address The Past in other ways.' Under a 1997 arms decommissioning statute, authorities are unable to carry out forensic tests on weapons handed over. When the bodies of the Disappeared are found - people murdered and buried in secret - they can be tested to establish identity but not to investigate the death. Both of these measures have already made prosecution of killings during the Troubles difficult. There is also a maximum jail term of two-years for anyone found guilty of carrying out a murder before 1998. Mr Cameron distanced himself from the attorney-general's remarks during Prime Minister's Questions today. 'The words of the Northern Ireland attorney general are very much his own words,' he said. Mr Cameron added that it would be 'rather dangerous' to block possible future prosecutions. 'I do think it's important to allow Richard Haass to do his work about parades, about flags, and about dealing with the past,' he said. Clearly the dealing with the past part is the most difficult of the three and the most difficult to unlock. The second point I would make is that we are all democrats who believe in the rule of law, who believe in the independence of the police and prosecuting authorities, and they should if they are able to, be able to bring cases. Unrest: British soldiers in Northern Ireland in the aftermath of Bloody Sunday 'I think it's rather dangerous to think that you can put some sort of block on that. But of course we are all interested in ways in which people can reconcile and come to terms with the bloody past, so that they can build a viable future and a shared future for Northern Ireland. Stephen Gault, whose father Samuel was killed in the 1987 IRA Poppy Day bombing in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh - an outrage for which no one has ever been convicted - said he was disgusted. How dare he airbrush the innocent people who were murdered at the hands of terrorists to move things forward. I just think it's totally disgusting,' he said. Mr Gault said he had spoken to Mr Larkin before about his campaign for justice. 'He said if I wanted any help with reference to Enniskillen don't be afraid to give me a shout and now he turns round and says this?' he said. 'It's totally, totally disgusting - my father's murder and countless thousands of others are just being brushed under the carpet to move things forward.' Reaction: Former Northern Ireland Secretary of State Peter Hain described the proposals as 'commonsense' Mickey McKinney, whose brother William was killed by British soldiers on Bloody Sunday in Londonderry in 1972, branded Mr Larkin's proposal as 'ridiculous'. The police are currently re-investigating Bloody Sunday, with relatives of those killed having long campaigned for the soldiers involved to be prosecuted. 'I would be very angry, my brother and everybody else who was shot dead on Bloody Sunday was murdered, it was state murder, it would cause outrage,' he said, My family, and I am sure all the other families, would be very, very angry at this. I think it would change things a whole lot. TUV leader Jim Allister expressed his anger and said that 'murder is murder'. 'I am appalled and angry that the Chief Law Officer, who should be the guardian of the rule of law, is advocating immunity for terrorists,' he said. The words of the Northern Ireland attorney general are very much his own words David Cameron distances himself from Mr Larkin QC's remarks 'What a kick in the teeth for innocent victims to have the attorney general, no less, championing the long standing IRA demand that their 'on the runs' and anyone responsible for anything before 1998, should be free from the pursuit of the law. It is amnesty. Moreover, by this crass proposal the attorney general validates the terrorist claim that their crimes were different and not really criminal. Murder is murder, is murder. It has no sell-by date. It didn't have for the Nazis, who have still been pursued. Northern Ireland's criminals must equally never be relieved of the threat of the long arm of the law catching up with them.' SDLP Assembly Member Alban Maginness said the attorney general's comments were of real concern to his party. 'For Mr Larkin to say that his proposal does not constitute an amnesty is wrong,' he said. Mr Larkin does recognise that many will interpret it as one - that is because that is what it will effectively be. This would amount to a blanket amnesty and the SDLP do not believe that this would be acceptable. The international view, also held by the United Nations, is that general amnesty is not the correct way of proceeding in a post conflict situation. Former US diplomat Dr Richard Haass is currently trying to achieve political consensus on a number of issues as yet unresolved during the peace process - one of which is how Northern Ireland addresses the legacy of its violent past and the seemingly endless unanswered questions over killings carried out by all sides. Mr Larkin has outlined his proposals in a submission to Dr Haass. Meanwhile, Mr Larkin has ordered a new inquest into the killings of two people when loyalists, including rogue members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and Ulster Defence Regiment, attacked a bar in the village of Keady, south Armagh in 1976, according to the Belfast-based solicitor Kevin Winters, who is representing the families. The attack was allegedly carried out by a group known at the Glenanne Gang. The fresh Coroner's Court probe followed a report by the Historical Enquires Team - a special unit set up to investigate unsolved crimes - which according to Mr Winters pointed to one of the most notorious examples of collusion involving the security forces.