Justice

Fintan O'Toole reports on how a loophole has been cut in the Unfair Dismissal Act.

Dr. Teeling was in a hurry. He had a surgery at 4pm and he'd like to be called to give evidence first, if that would be alright? No, it wasn't, said the Coroner, Dr. Bofin. Finbar Lynagh was already being sworn in to give testimony in the inquest on the death of his brother. There were six jurors present and five lawyers - representing Finbar's family, the gardai, the Prisoners' Rights Organisation, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and the Department of Justice. They were here, said Dr. Bofin, to consider the death of a man aged about 27 years, named Michael Lynagh.

In his judgement on the Nicky Kelly appeal in the Supreme Court on Friday, October 29, the Chief Justice, Tom O'Higgins, said: "It is seldom that the appelate jurisdiction of our courts has been so fully exercised but it is proper that it should have been so in order to satisfy the requirements of justice." While Tom O'Higgins is deserving of respect not just because of his position but because of the distinction he has brought to the role as chief justice, the comment could hardly have won commendation from anyone who has followed the Nicky Kelly case.

In 1976 at the request of relatives of persons held under the Offences Against the State Act, I was involved in monitoring allegations of maltreatment of those in custody. Having failed to obtain the interest of officialdom at the time I submitted a dossier of cases to Amnesty International and other human rights organisations. One of the cases was that of Nicky Kelly whose judicial appeal to the Supreme court against his conviction was turned down last week. Kelly is known to be an innocent man.

Part 1: "You can see he's still hot'

Michael Lynagh lay on a bed in a cell at Mountjoy prison. His mouth was almost but not quite closed. Both eyes were bulging, the right one barely open, the left closed. His chest was very much enlarged. On his left wrist there was a straight and narrow line of dark red blood, almost brown. There was no sign of any flow from the cut on the wrist. Michael Lynagh, aged 27, had hanged himself in the cell an hour previously. It was about 3:15 pm on Friday, September 10.

INTERNMENT without trial was ended in the south of Ireland in 1961 but for one man its effects live on and several Ministers and numerous TDs have effectively connived in the victimisation of this man, simply because he was jailed without trial 25 years ago.

The results of an investigation by Magill into the background to the Connolly affair reveal that:

The proposed constitutional amendment on abortion has very little to do with the actual issue of abortion but a great deal to do with re-asserting the Catholic nature of this state and reversing recent trends towards a pluralist society. It has also to do with the degenerate nature of the Irish pollitical system, whereby any demand is acceded to and where all politicians run scared - or conversely wish to appear holier than thou - on an issue of deep emotional and reliigious significance.

The three screws didn't know much about guns. They thought the big, dark automatic that Karl Crawley was pulling out was a Luger. But Kar7 didn't care whether the screws could recognise a Colt .45 when they saw one - just so long as they had enough cop to do what they were told. -Freeze, you bastards!

The police claim that they need more powers to deal with crime.