Dublin reaction: The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, last night said he hoped the Colombia Three, who were found guilty of travelling on false passports, would be reunited quickly with their families.
The families of the three, Niall Connolly, James Monaghan and Martin McCauley, had "borne the strain of their detention for such a long period", the Minister said.
"The trial in Colombia has now ended and the men have been found not guilty of the major offence with which they were charged, that of training terrorists, and convicted on the lesser charge of travelling on false documents. I note the judgment of the court in this case, including the men's acquittal on the charge of training terrorists," said Mr Cowen, who was attending an EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg. He said was grateful to the Colombian authorities for the assistance they provided to Department of Foreign Affairs officials who monitored the case closely from the start.
Fine Gael's justice spokesperson, Mr Jim O'Keeffe, swore an affidavit at one point testifying to the fact that Connolly was in Havana at a time when the prosecution said he was with FARC. Last night, Mr O'Keeffe said: "I believe in the rule of law. I believed that it was only right that I gave that evidence. I believe that the facts should always be presented. "Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a supporter of Sinn Féin and far less am I a supporter of the IRA, but I do believe that it was right and proper to give that affidavit."
Welcoming the judgment, Labour TD Mr Joe Costello said he was not surprised that the three men had been found innocent of the main charge of training terrorists, which could have led to 20 years in jail.
"During the case two of the men were shown to be elsewhere when they were supposed to be training the FARC. In those circumstances it seemed that it would be difficult to stand up the case."
In Bundoran, Co Donegal, at the conference of the Garda Representative Association last night the president Mr Mick Kirby called on Sinn Féin to clarify why three of its members were in Colombia on false passports.
