Madam, – It was with more than passing interest that I read your Editorial (“Salutary lessons of Murphy case”, February 26th), particularly the phrase in the final paragraph: “There can be no tolerance in the Garda Síochána of the fabrication of evidence”. Fine words with which most fair-minded people would be in total agreement. “The key factor in this debacle is the fabrication of interview notes” leaves no room for equivocation or doubt as to the writer’s belief in what caused the case to fall. Most observers would again agree.
In 1991, as Sinn Féin vice chairman of Monaghan Town Council I was charged in connection with a “human bomb” attack on a British army checkpoint in Fermanagh which had occurred on November 22nd, 1990. The evidence against me was an alleged identification of me by the victim of the attack and two one-line statements of admission allegedly made by me while being interrogated in Monaghan Garda Station over the course of three days, the only time I was supposed to have spoken according to the book of evidence which formed the case against me.
My appearance in the Special Criminal Court created a media frenzy at the time.“Sinn Féin councillor on human bomb charges” screamed the headlines.
I got bail and had to run the gauntlet of the media scrum which was outside the court as I emerged. Every TV channel had me on their main evening news.
By one of those extraordinarily ironic quirks of fortune that sometimes occur, Maggie Thatcher saved me! November 22nd was the day she resigned as British prime minister, and, as it happened, I had 27 solid citizens as alibi witnesses who could verify that I was elsewhere on that date. I was in my bar, playing my guitar, singing “the wicked witch is dead” and having a party with 27 others to celebrate her political demise. Had the attack occurred the day before or after November 22nd, I, like most people, simply could not have remembered three months later where I had been.
When the Garda Síochána became aware of this all the charges against me were suddenly dropped and a nolle prosequientered without explanation.
A new charge of membership of the IRA was then placed against me. The court found me not guilty.
Since then, I have pursued every possible avenue to seek redress and clear my name, so far to no avail.
Questions in the Dáil, requests for an inquiry, numerous newspaper and magazine articles have all been stonewalled by those in authority. My family’s lives were put in mortal danger by what happened to me. And because it wasn’t confronted and excised it came back to bite us. – Is mise,