Senator Maurice Hayes, Catholic Chairman of the Northern Ireland Community Relations Commission at the time, has described internment as "possibly the worst of all the stupid things that government could do". A review by the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) assessed internment overall as "a major mistake".
Senator Maurice Hayes, who was Catholic and chaired the Northern Ireland Community Relations Commission, viewed internment as a severe misstep. The British Ministry of Defence's assessment echoed this view, stating that internment was an "overwhelming mistake".