Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As has been outlined by my colleagues, the case of the Craigavon two, Brendan McConville and John Paul Wootton, has been referred to the Criminal Case Review Commission and it has been there for some time. I looked up the website of the commission and part of it outlined the history of the setting up of the commission. It said: "In the 1970s there was a series of high profile cases where the convictions were later recognised as miscarriages of justice: The Guildford Four (1974); The Birmingham Six (1975); The Maguire Seven (1976) and Judith Ward (1974)." They all have the common theme that they relate to Ireland, even though this commission covers Northern Ireland, Wales and England.

The situation is that the case has been referred to the commission. It is our belief that there is substantial evidence that, in terms of proper process, this conviction should never have taken place and the appeal should have been allowed. We need the Government to press that the commission, which acts independently, and we accept that, gets on speedily with the job of reviewing this case and we would hope it would be referred back at least for a new trial.

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