Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Rural Independent Group supports the motion, as we have done on each previous occasion on which it has been before us. On the whole, the Special Criminal Court has been an effective tool against subversive elements and, in recent years, organised criminal gangs, and for that reason it is worth retaining. The case for its retention, however, is far from unanswerable. We need to be clear that the ultimate aim of the Oireachtas is for there to be a time when the shutters can be brought down on the Special Criminal Court. To believe that it should exist permanently would be to admit that jury courts are incapable of operating effectively and that would be completely wrong. We do not buy into the absolutist position of many in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, for example. Many will acknowledge that many in the Fianna Fáil Party have a more absolutist position in favour of the Special Criminal Court and seem to view its existence as some kind of essential for a society that values law and order, as if the court were a thin blue line standing between us and chaos and disorder. In their eyes, any criticism of the court's existence is seen as being somehow soft on crime, criminal gangs and subversive organisations, which is simply not the case. There are many legitimate criticisms to be made of the existence of special criminal courts. The right to trial by jury of one's peers has existed since ancient Greek and Roman times and should not lightly be cast aside without acknowledging just how serious a step that always is.

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