Sir, - It seems clear from the evidence highlighted by RTE's Prime Time programme that the course of justice (and of history, perhaps) was subverted by the executive arm of the State in order to prosecute individuals in what subsequently became known as "The Arms Trials".
Capt James Kelly is, perhaps, the individual who suffered most from this travesty. Capt Kelly was a high-ranking intelligence officer in the Irish Army who was simply following orders from the Minister for Defence to arrange for the importation of arms for the defence of the nationalist community in Northern Ireland. For political reasons, the stance of the Government changed and the Minister for Defence denied that he had authorised or directed the importation of arms.
Capt Kelly was "hung out to dry" and along with others was prosecuted for the illegal importation of arms; he was vilified in the Dail as a traitor (under the protection of Dail privilege), his Army career ended and his State pension suspended; he was isolated and brought to near bankruptcy before being put through the humiliation of two criminal trials. He, along with the other defendants, was acquitted, but the damage to his good name and character remained.
An essential pillar of the State's case was the evidence of Capt Kelly's boss, Col Michael Hefferon, the then Director of Intelligence of the Irish Army. It has now been shown that Col Hefferon's statement of evidence to the Garda was "doctored" (at State level) in order to delete references that clearly stated that the Minister for Defence had authorised the importation of the arms. It is likely that the State could not have taken the prosecutions at all if Col Hefferon's statement had been left in its original form.
This is an appalling state of affairs. Capt Kelly and others were vilified and prosecuted with the support of "manufactured" evidence. To quote Capt James Kelly (from his book The Thimble Riggers): "A good test of good government and of good politicians is the degree of honesty and the sense of justice that informs their actions and decisions. The ideals of truth and integrity are the keystones on which the democratic system of government is based. If this principle of good government is not put into practice, we are left with a society where the rights of the individual are debased and sacrificed under such as an alleged and false concept of State security, which has more in common with fascism and dictatorship than democracy."
I now call on the Government to have this matter fully investigated in an open, public and unbiased manner. The individuals who were prosecuted are owed a public apology and substantial compensation.
I believe that the Law Society, the Bar Council of Ireland (representing the entire legal profession) and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties should play an active role in ensuring that justice finally prevails. The strength of our democracy depends upon it. - Yours, etc.,
Felix McTiernan, Solicitor, Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2.