Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

"There is no jury at the Special Criminal Court and it accepts secret evidence from gardaí. This is in violation of our right to a fair trial, our right to trial by jury and our right to equality before the law." Those are the words of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, ICCL, which is far from the only human rights organisation that has criticised the Offences against the State Act. Amnesty International, the United Nations Human Rights Committee and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, are just a few of the others that have done so, too. In fact, when the legislation was introduced in 1998, the then Minister for Justice, John O'Donoghue, described it as “harsh” and the then Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, described it as “draconian”. All the while, they gave the impression that it was going to be a temporary measure.

Sinn Féin won nearly one quarter of all votes in this State in a general election of 2020. It was seen at the time by many as a radical, even by some, as a left alternative to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Later that year, it abstained on the renewal of Offences against the State Act. It was not recognised by all at the time, but in reality, that marked the beginning of a shift to the right by Sinn Féin. Since then it has become more apparent in the hardline being taken on immigration and has ended up with attempts to prove to the likes of Davy Stockbrokers that it is a safe pair of hands for Irish capitalism and that it is indeed more similar to the Labour Party of Keir Starmer than that of Jeremy Corbyn. Interestingly, this has not increased the support for Sinn Féin, but has had the complete opposite effect.

In conclusion, in politics you have to stand for something and if you stand for civil liberties, you must stand against the Offences against the State Act.

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