The board of the Centre for Public Inquiry is to hold an emergency meeting today or tomorrow to discuss the withdrawal of its €4 million funding by Irish-American philanthropist Chuck Feeney. Paul Cullen reports.
The decision was prompted by claims by Minister for Justice Michael McDowell that the director of the centre, former journalist Frank Connolly, travelled to Colombia on a false passport together with a convicted IRA member in 2001.
The Centre for Public Inquiry, chaired by retired Mr Justice Feargus Flood, was set up to investigate matters of Irish public importance. Mr McDowell has linked Mr Connolly to a "well-organised sinister enterprise" by which the Provisional IRA provided Farc guerillas in Colombia with explosives training for large amounts of money Farc raised from the cocaine trade.
Mr Connolly yesterday rejected Mr McDowell's allegations and claimed he was the victim of a "witch-hunt".
The board of Atlantic Philanthropies, Mr Feeney's charitable trust, withdrew funding at a meeting in New York on Tuesday, before Mr McDowell made his allegations after a Dáil question by Independent TD Finian McGrath.
The Irish Times understands Mr Feeney offered last month to continue funding if Mr Connolly were replaced. However, the board, in discussions about media allegations concerning Mr Connolly, declared its confidence in him. As a result, Atlantic opted to terminate its €800,000-a-year funding.
Mr McGrath said he would make a complaint to the Ceann Comhairle over what he claimed was the Minister's abuse of Dáil privilege.
Sinn Féin also accused Mr McDowell of an "outrageous" abuse of privilege by using the Dáil question to place on the record "unsubstantiated allegations".
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