Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for raising this important issue. My officials and I have been following and engaging on this matter on an ongoing basis.

Mr. Taylor who is from Derry was a member of a dissident republican group in recent years. In 1994 he was sentenced to 18 years in prison after he had been seriously injured in a premature explosion in Derry. He was released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. He served a further three-year sentence from 2011 to 2014 for the possession of a rifle. In March 2016 he was returned to prison after his early release licence was suspended by the then Secretary of State, Ms Theresa Villiers.

As I have indicated previously to Deputies, Mr. Taylor’s case has been discussed regularly with the Northern Ireland Office through my officials at the Belfast secretariat. My officials have twice visited Mr. Taylor in Maghaberry Prison, most recently in the past few weeks.

The Northern Ireland parole commissioners held a parole hearing in May 2017 on Tony Taylor’s revocation of licence. The decision reached at the hearing was to continue the revocation of licence. A further review by the parole commissioners is under way and there was an expectation that it would conclude in the coming weeks. We understand from discussions with the Northern Ireland Office and Mr. Taylor’s legal representatives that there may be a delay in that process, as referred to by Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív.

I am aware that Mr. Taylor has publicly renounced any future engagement in dissident republican activity. I have received a letter from his wife, Lorraine, and I am aware of their difficult family circumstances. I am also aware that there is a level of concern in the nationalist and republican community in Northern Ireland about the basis for and nature of Mr. Taylor’s ongoing detention. They have all been reflected in our ongoing engagement with the Northern Ireland Office on the matter. The recent indication that Mr. Taylor’s new parole hearing may take much longer than expected is of particular concern as he has now been in detention for over two years without being charged with or convicted of any new offence.

My officials and I will continue to monitor developments in the case and raise it with the Northern Ireland Office. I will write to the Secretary of State, Ms Karen Bradley, about the case and will raise it when I meet her in London tomorrow. There are legal sensitivities of which we must be aware, but I understand the growing concern about this matter. Having been in Derry last week, I appreciate how it is contributing negatively to community tensions in an unwelcome way.

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