THE Government faces defeat in the bail referendum on November 28th unless it makes more effort to mobilise support, a Minister of State for Justice said last night.
Urging a Yes vote at a meeting in Dublin, Mr Austin Currie said he believed there was widespread public support for changing the bail laws so that people could be refused bail if a court thought they might commit a new offence while on bail.
He said this was a "common sense proposition" but added: "Unless public representatives and activists of all parties get out on the ground and mobilise this large common sense majority, we may have a very low poll which could, conceivably, result in the amendment being defeated as a result of the misleading arguments being put forward by its opponents.
He said people were keen for information about the proposed change and there was "a moral and political obligation on the political parties supporting this amendment to get out there quickly and satisfy the thirst for information".
He objected to the suggestion from the Irish Commission for Justice and Peace that the proposed amendment amounted to internment without trial. "Given my own political background and experiences, I would not be campaigning for this amendment if it did amount to internment without trial."
The Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach, Mr Gay Mitchell, welcomed the "constructive comments" of the Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin, Dr Eamon Walsh, on prison overcrowding and the underlying causes of crime.
Dr Walsh warned earlier this month that the amendment could result in an influx of remand prisoners into already overcrowded prisons and might lead to sentenced prisoners being released earlier to make way for some who might not be found guilty.
He said we could not ignore the "root occasions and influences" for crime and pretend it was an accident that 75 per cent of prisoners came from areas of lowest employment and social deprivation.
Mr Mitchell, who also called for a Yes vote, said if the bail provision was passed it would be accompanied by 800 additional prison places within 18 months, 400 of which would be for segregated remand prisoners.
As we deal with law and order issues out of a sense of justice, we must ensure that our sense of justice is all embracing. For this reason, we should welcome the constructive comments of Bishop Walsh in relation to prison overcrowding and the underlying causes of crime," he said.
The leader of Muintir Na hEireann, Mr Richard Greene, said the Government's proposed amendment undermined the presumption of innocence and the right to be judged for serious offences by a jury of one's peers.
Urging a No vote, Mr Greene described as "ludicrous" the proposal that a judge can refuse bail for an offence not yet committed. The amendment was "at odds" with several international treaties and if passed would further increase the demand for prison spaces.
Appropriate action was needed to support Garda efforts to control crime but the proposed amendment was an unnecessary dilution of civil rights, he said.