LAWS REPEALED AS CONCESSION
Laws repealed 'as concession'
LAWS made to jail terrorists on the word of a senior police officer - introduced after the Real IRA bombed Omagh - were repealed as "a concession to politics", it has been claimed.
Michael Gallagher lost his son Aidan in the 1998 bomb, which claimed 29 lives, and the anti-terror legislation was rushed through parliament shortly afterwards.
The legislation was repealed in 2007 but yesterday Mr Gallagher said he believes it could have been useful in convicting the killers of Constable Ronan Kerr. who died in a car bomb in Omagh on Saturday.
"I believe this legislation was repealed as a concession to politics because some people sat very uncomfortably with it," said Mr Gallagher, who is a leading campaigner for victims of the 1998 Omagh bomb.
"This legislation was brought in at a high cost of many millions of pounds, with the House of Commons sitting all night to do so.
"The jury was out on the usefulness of the legislation because the police had never used it," he said.
"In my opinion it would have been a useful piece of law. However, it would have offended the people in the republican community and been seen as heavy-handed policing."
Mr Gallagher would like to see two key actions taken to tackle dissident republicans.
At present he thinks the UK anti-terror legislation is adequate to bring the terrorists before the courts.
"Over 50 Muslim terrorists have been convicted under our legislation for terrorist offences; we don't need a Guantanamo Bay for such people, as the US has." he said. "But in Northern Ireland we have never got on top of the dissident republican problem. So I think we should be willing to humble ourselves and bring in expertise from Great Britain or the US to get the job done."
He also thinks that much more effort is needed in getting information from republican communities about who was responsible for the weekend murder.
"I have listened all weekend to the condemnations of Ronan Kerr's murder." he said. "If those people are really moving forward, especially Sinn Fein, they would press the republican communities to grass on those responsible - and I use the word 'grass' deliberately. They should really go to the heart of republican communities and say, 'We expect you to come forward and say who is responsible for this murder'."
He did not feel that appeals for information from Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness over the weekend would put adequate pressure on republican heartlands to bring information to police.
However, a spokesman for Sinn Fein asked what else the Sinn Fein leadership could do.
"Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams have given clear unqualified appeals for anyone with information on the murder of Ronan Kerr to bring it forward to the police," he said.
The Northern Ireland Office confirmed previously that powers to convict individuals of belonging to terrorist groups on the word of a senior police officer were in the Criminal Justice (Terrorism and Conspiracy) Act 1998.
However, it also told the News Letter the powers had never been used and were repealed on July 31. 2007, as part of "the commitment in the security normalisation programme".
A police spokeswoman said: "The PSNI will use the appropriate legislation that will best serve their efforts to bring criminals to justice."
LAWS made to jail terrorists on the word of a senior police officer - introduced after the Real IRA bombed Omagh - were repealed as "a concession to politics", it has been claimed.
Michael Gallagher lost his son Aidan in the 1998 bomb, which claimed 29 lives, and the anti-terror legislation was rushed through parliament shortly afterwards.
The legislation was repealed in 2007 but yesterday Mr Gallagher said he believes it could have been useful in convicting the killers of Constable Ronan Kerr. who died in a car bomb in Omagh on Saturday.
"I believe this legislation was repealed as a concession to politics because some people sat very uncomfortably with it," said Mr Gallagher, who is a leading campaigner for victims of the 1998 Omagh bomb.
"This legislation was brought in at a high cost of many millions of pounds, with the House of Commons sitting all night to do so.
"The jury was out on the usefulness of the legislation because the police had never used it," he said.
"In my opinion it would have been a useful piece of law. However, it would have offended the people in the republican community and been seen as heavy-handed policing."
Mr Gallagher would like to see two key actions taken to tackle dissident republicans.
At present he thinks the UK anti-terror legislation is adequate to bring the terrorists before the courts.
"Over 50 Muslim terrorists have been convicted under our legislation for terrorist offences; we don't need a Guantanamo Bay for such people, as the US has." he said. "But in Northern Ireland we have never got on top of the dissident republican problem. So I think we should be willing to humble ourselves and bring in expertise from Great Britain or the US to get the job done."
He also thinks that much more effort is needed in getting information from republican communities about who was responsible for the weekend murder.
"I have listened all weekend to the condemnations of Ronan Kerr's murder." he said. "If those people are really moving forward, especially Sinn Fein, they would press the republican communities to grass on those responsible - and I use the word 'grass' deliberately. They should really go to the heart of republican communities and say, 'We expect you to come forward and say who is responsible for this murder'."
He did not feel that appeals for information from Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness over the weekend would put adequate pressure on republican heartlands to bring information to police.
However, a spokesman for Sinn Fein asked what else the Sinn Fein leadership could do.
"Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams have given clear unqualified appeals for anyone with information on the murder of Ronan Kerr to bring it forward to the police," he said.
The Northern Ireland Office confirmed previously that powers to convict individuals of belonging to terrorist groups on the word of a senior police officer were in the Criminal Justice (Terrorism and Conspiracy) Act 1998.
However, it also told the News Letter the powers had never been used and were repealed on July 31. 2007, as part of "the commitment in the security normalisation programme".
A police spokeswoman said: "The PSNI will use the appropriate legislation that will best serve their efforts to bring criminals to justice."
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/822
Published Date: 05-Apr-11
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