Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There have been quite a number of calls from colleagues on this side of the House for the Minister and the Fine Gael Party to consider simply withdrawing this Bill. There are a number of reasons for this, one of which is the Attorney General's advice, which has been quoted, that the Bill is a dog's dinner. The events of last night in this House have very much contributed to that atmosphere surrounding this Bill. I think what many people are deeply concerned about is the unholy alliance that the Government has built up with Sinn Féin in respect of this Bill and our Judiciary. If we want to see the motivations of the Sinn Féin Party in coming on board with the Government in respect of this Bill, we need only consider what Deputy Ó Snodaigh said last night in this House about the Special Criminal Court. It sent a chill down my spine and I suspect it sent a chill down the spines of many ordinary decent Irish citizens. Deputy Ó Snodaigh stated:

I listened to the contributions and responses to what I had said earlier. If anybody wants a history of the anti-republican bias of judges in the Special Criminal Court, I have no problem at all.

He went on to say:

I will not necessarily go into it here. [He can go ahead and do so if he wishes. We would certainly be interested in hearing directly what Sinn Féin's views are.] It is not just about anti-republicanism and judges falling asleep on the Bench or a history of abuse to some of the people before them in that court. It is also in other courts.

That is Sinn Féin's motivation in supporting this Bill. It wants in some way perhaps to get revenge or some influence on the courts system.

A number of years ago, when there was controversy about Sinn Féin's position on the Special Criminal Court, a solicitor from Cork, Mr. Jim Brooks, wrote to the Irish Examiner. He gave a description of the IRA intimidation of Special Criminal Court judges. I will read part of it into the record. It was published in the Irish Examineron 14 February 2016:

Dear Editor,

In the light of the controversy surrounding the Special Criminal Court I thought the following story might be of interest to you and/or your readers. At the height of the "troubles" I was in Dublin on legal business and I met one of the sitting Judges on the Special Criminal Court. He had been recently appointed and he recounted the following story to me. On the eve of his journey to Dublin to hear his first case he received a phone-call at home. The case involved an IRA Defendant and the phone-call went like this.

Caller: Judge you will be hearing a case tomorrow and we would remind you that it would be in your best interests to deliver a Judgment favourable to the Defendant.

The Judge put the phone down. The Judge received a second call seconds later.

Caller: Judge please don't put the phone down. We know all about your family.

The Judge cut him off by putting the phone down. Third call.

Caller: Judge we know you have a young family. We know where they go to School and we know lots about them.

The Judge put the phone down. The phone rang immediately again.

Caller: Judge just to remind you that we know a lot about you and you might like to know that your Bathroom window is open.

The Judge put the phone down, checked his Bathroom and found yes the window was open.

The Judge was not intimidated.

The letter goes on and is signed by Mr. Jim Brooks, a solicitor in Clonakilty. It is chilling to be aware of such instances that are reported and of the connections that members of the Sinn Féin Party and current Deputies have with persons who have been convicted before the Special Criminal Court. Deputy Ó Snodaigh's comments last night and his alliance with the Minister on the appointment of judges send shivers down our spines. I appeal to the Minister to use his better judgment and collapse this enterprise at once and tell the Minister, Deputy Ross, to worry about the bus system and the train system, forget about this and come back to us with reasonable proposals that can ensure the independence of our Judiciary is protected and enhanced, as it should be under our Constitution, in order that people can have confidence going before its system. I fear that, with Sinn Féin lining up with the Minister, the public will have less confidence in the Judiciary, in the judicial system, and that in fact it would be the opposite of what the Government intends.

As Deputy Barrett very wisely said yesterday, this really is an abdication of responsibility on the part of the Government. It is also an abdication of Fine Gael's self-described reputation as the party of law and order. All I can do is lay the facts before the Minister. This is who he is lining up with on the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill. If he is satisfied with that, if his party is satisfied with that, go ahead, but I do not believe Fine Gael's voters will forgive it.

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