'Stormontgate' unexplained
Although the charges have been withdrawn from the three accused of operating a spy ring in Stormont, there was no explanation as to why. Disagreement between the parties remains and conspiracy theories abound. Colm Heatley reports
The refusal of the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) to explain why it suddenly and dramatically withdrew charges against three men accused of operating a republican "spy-ring" at Stormont has been criticised by all of Northern Ireland's political parties, and the three accused.
Charges against Ciaran Kearney, Denis Donaldson and William Mackessy were withdrawn at an unscheduled hearing at Belfast Crown Court on Thursday 9 December, after a three-year PSNI investigation into the events which ultimately brought down the Stormont Assembly in October 2002.
The PPS said only that the charges were withdrawn in the "public interest" and is refusing to elaborate.
There is a precedent for explaining such a decision, most notably in the 1988 "Gibraltar three" case when charges against SAS men accused of unlawfully killing three IRA members were not pursued.
The refusal to explain why the charges were withdrawn in the "public interest" has fuelled a rumour mill in Northern Ireland, with both nationalists and unionists blaming the decision on a "conspiracy" at the highest levels of police and government.
Unionists claim that the decision was the result of "political intervention" aimed at saving republicans the embarrassment of a court case.
Republicans on the other hand say the charges were withdrawn because there never was any evidence in the first instance. They claim the whole operation was instigated at the behest of "securocrats" within the PSNI whose aim was to bring down the power-sharing Assembly.
They also argue that given the political embarrassment the allegations caused to Sinn Féin it is extremely unlikely that the charges would be dropped to save republican blushes at this stage.
When Stormont collapsed because of the highly public PSNI raid on Sinn Féin's offices (something for which the Chief Constable, Hugh Orde, later apologised) at the Assembly in October 2002, unionist leaders said it was "proof of republican duplicity".
The raids came at a sensitive time in the peace process, when for the first time unionist leaders, especially David Trimble, were under increased pressure to operate the Assembly because of then recent IRA statements suggesting the group would disband.
"Sinn Féin is involved in political conspiracy on a massive scale," said then UUP leader and First Minister David Trimble.
"The republican movement has been operating an extensive intelligence gathering operation with the intention of facilitating terrorism. It has also been gathering political intelligence. This is Watergate to the nth degree, much more serious in terms of the material involved and we know that this material was given to the political leadership of Sinn Féin."
The DUP's Nigel Dodds said events had proven his party's anti-agreement analysis correct and that the DUP had "won" the argument within unionism. Amongst all shades of Unionism there was agreement that the guilt of republicans was beyond doubt.
Trimble demanded that Tony Blair allow the Assembly to carry on by agreeing to a key unionist demand since 1998 – the exclusion of Sinn Féin from political office. In the event Blair decided to indefinitely suspend the Assembly, a decision which remains in force today. The raids and the subsequent suspension of the Assembly highlighted the fragility of Northern Ireland politics and the influence the intelligence services can exert on political life.
This week unionists said they didn't accept the innocence of the three men or of the republican movement. The Secretary of State, Peter Hain, sent out confusing signals, arguing that the three men were innocent but going on to say he would like to see them "brought to justice", a comment which infuriated the three.
Critics of the PSNI operation at Stormont also point to their investigation into the 2002 St Patrick's Day break-in at Castlereagh barracks which the police blamed on the IRA. However, the investigation has been ridiculed for its failure to follow up its own leads. Larry Zaitschek, an American chef who worked in the barracks but now lives in the US, has still not been served with an extradition warrant by the PSNI, despite being named by them as a chief suspect in the investigation.
In the absence of an explanation from the PPS the row over "Stormongate" looks set to continue.