Miriam's Lord's Week: The gang's (almost) all here for the Healy-Rae hooley
About 100 people headed up from the Kingdom to enjoy a lunch 'hosted by Minister Michael Healy-Rae'.
There was no mention on the printed menu of his brother Danny, the second member of team Healy-Rae to retain a seat in the constituency.
There were drinks in the bar before the guests moved down the corridor to the Members' Restaurant, where they dined on roast chicken supreme with summer pea and asparagus cream, gratin potatoes and a medley of vegetables.
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Dessert was caramelised lemon tartlet with a meringue crumb.
At the end of the meal, Michael went into the kitchens and emerged with a birthday cake for team member Tom O'Shea from Waterville, who had just turned 70. The group brought it up from Maloney's cake shop in Castleisland and it was gorgeous.
Earlier, they toured the House and popped into the Dáil and the Seanad, where the Cathaoirleach, Kerryman Mark Daly, made sure to mention them.
'They are guests of Danny and Michael Healy-Rae. They are most welcome to Seanad Éireann. I hope they have an enjoyable day in Dublin and we'll all be back up the weekend after next for another enjoyable day in Dublin, please God, and we'll be bringing Sam Maguire back home.'
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Man who pleaded guilty to electoral fraud worked for Healy-Rae company, Fine Gael senator claims
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Danny didn't attend the lunch.
The Healy-Rae contingent wasn't in the chamber when Kerry-based Labour Senator Tim Kennelly told the Upper House under Seanad privilege that a man who pleaded guilty in Kenmare District Court to election fraud worked for a plant-hire company owned by the family of Danny Healy-Rae.
When contacted by The Irish Times on Thursday, Danny Healy-Rae said: 'I have no comment.'
Who rubbed out Jack Lynch's pipe?
Decades of political memory and experience, valued service to the State, grudges and begrudgery, huffs, cute-hoorism and hissy-fits all come together when the Irish Association of Former Parliamentarians meets in Leinster House.
More than 50 blasts from the recent and distant past gathered last Friday for the association's agm, held this year in the airy confines of Fianna Fáil's parliamentary party rooms on the fifth floor.
Guest speaker on the day was former president Mary McAleese, who gave a talk on her time in the Áras which included some fascinating detail on Queen Elizabeth's historic State visit in 2011. There was no discussion about who might fill her successor's shoes when his time is up in November.
The large contingent of former Fianna Fáil TDs and Senators were also fascinated by a long-standing feature of the party room: the line of framed photographs of former leaders. They recalled the black-and-white portraits from their own days at parliamentary meetings. After the 2011 election, when the party had to give way to Enda Kenny and swap its fifth-floor penthouse for Fine Gael's dark and stuffy meeting room in the basement, the pictures came too.
'From as far back as I can remember, the leaders always started with De Valera and they ended with the most recent person,' said a former FF Oireachtas member.
'Left to right, Dev first. But now, it's the other way around. Micheál Martin is first and Dev is kinda last. Oh, and Micheál is the only one in colour.'
But that wasn't the real talking point.
'We were looking at the row of photos and something wasn't quite right. Something was missing. Then somebody twigged it was Jack Lynch. Jack always had a pipe. Always,' recalled our former parliamentarian.
'This was a new picture of Jack Lynch and he no longer has the pipe. Suppose we can't be doing with that sort of thing these days. So Jack's trademark pipe has been airbrushed from history. Honest to God. It's gone.'
Wonder if the other Cork Taoiseach knows about this – the current full-colour incumbent who introduced the world's first workplace smoking ban in 2004?
Classic Micheál, if you ask us.
Soc Dems turn 10
Social policy professor turned Social Democrat TD Rory Hearne plays senior hurling on the housing crisis in the Dáil, and to unwind he has returned to junior hurling with his local club, Whitehall Colmcilles.
The Dublin North-West TD is enjoying the game so much he decided to organise an end-of-term cross-party GAA knockabout for colleagues in Leinster House. There are regular rugby and soccer matches between Oireachtas members but Gaelic games haven't had much of a look-in.
A small but enthusiastic group assembled in the grounds of Trinity College Dublin, where their host, Provost Linda Doyle, watched the politicians thrash about in the rain in the name of sport.
They attempted a game of football as well as the hurling. Dublin legend Michael Darragh Macauley, along with Cormac Donohoe of the Dublin Masters team, tried to keep some semblance of shape on the proceedings.
'The only thing at stake was our dignity,' says Rory. 'There were no results. We decided to call everything a draw.'
Among the politicians lining out were Fine Gael TDs Joe Neville (Kildare North), Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim), Brian Brennan (Wicklow-Wexford), Sinn Féin's Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth) and Darren O'Rourke (Meath-East), Labour's Ciarán Ahern (Dublin South-West) and Marie Sherlock (Dublin-Central), Fianna Fáil's Peter 'Chap' Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny) and Kerry Labour Senator Mike Kennelly.
TDs line out for a hurling match at Trinity College Dublin: 'The only thing at stake was our dignity'
Now that they've established themselves, the players hope more TDs and Senators will sign up for a charity match they have planned for September, hopefully in Croke Park.
Meanwhile, Hearne got back to Leinster House in time for the family photo with his fellow Soc Dems as the party marked 10 years since its foundation in 2015. Its three founding members have since left national politics. Róisín Shortall and Catherine Murphy retired at the last election and Stephen Donnelly, who defected to Fianna Fáil and was minister for health in the last government, lost his Dáil seat in November.
He didn't join his erstwhile co-leaders at a celebratory dinner with the parliamentary party in the Members' Restaurant on Wednesday night.
Stephen isn't totally out of the loop – he was in Glenties on Friday as one of the guest speakers at the MacGill Summer school, Ireland's Glastonbury for political anoraks. He was in good spirits, thanking his host for correctly identifying him as the former minister for health and not the current leader of Aontú.
Former minister for health Stephen Donnelly and Jess Majekodunmi, managing director of human sciences studio at Accenture, at the MacGill Summer School. Photograph: North West Newspix
'I've had three people over the last 24 hours kind of look at me, put out the hand and go: 'It's Peadar Tóibín, isn't it!' So for any of you here who are still wondering, no, it isn't. Yes, we do look a little alike – he's a good-looking chap, nobody will take that from him ... but I'm not Peadar Tóibín.'
And for good measure, he also stressed that he isn't the economist Dan O'Brien, the other person he is frequently mistaken for.
Speaking of Donegal, we wrote last week about the Blaney family's 100 years of unbroken service at local level. A reader has been in touch to point out that they may well have sat on Donegal County Council since 1925 but, like all the other county councils, it was founded by the local government reforms of 1899.
We, er, knew that.
Horrible histories
Congratulations to Sinn Féin's Chief Whip and spokesperson on fisheries and the marine who had some good news to announce on Wednesday.
'I have been appointed to be the convener of the Ireland-Norway Parliamentary Friendship Group by the Ceann Comhairle,' wrote Pádraig Mac Lochlainn in an email to all Oireachtas members.
'There is so much that we can learn from the Norwegian people, particularly how they have maximised the potential of the seas alongside them to create huge wealth and prosperity for their coastal communities.
'The connections between Ireland and Norway go back as far as the ninth century,' he added, inviting all TDs and Senators to contact him if they want to join the new friendship group.
That's nice.
Fair play to the Vikings. Not like those horrible Normans, who were descendants of Vikings and left behind a lot of historical baggage here too.
Only last May, Pádraig's party colleague Aengus Ó Snodaigh was blasting the Government for approving plans for Ireland to participate in the Year of the Normans initiative along with other European countries.
He said the proposal to celebrate the birth 1,000 years ago of England's first Norman King, William the Conqueror, whose successors subjugated Ireland, was 'offensive'.
It was 'scraping the barrel of colonialism, imperialism and English royalism for themed tourism'.
Mind you, conquest, pillage and rape was all the rage more than 1,000 years ago when the Scandinavian marauders established significant settlements around ancient Ireland and parts of Normandy.
We hope Pádraig consulted Aengus about our ninth-century 'connections' with Norway before joining the friendship group.
Bastille Day bash
Liberté!
Égalité!
Fraternité!
Buckets of Rosé!
One of the last embassy garden parties of the summer diplomatic season was held at the French ambassador's residence on Monday night.
The magnificent late 19th-century pile on Ailesbury Road has just reopened after a lengthy renovation. More than 1,200 guests joined Her Excellency Céline Place in her 1.75-acre back garden for the annual Bastille Day celebrations.
All the political parties were represented. The Shinners were there, making a beeline for the ice-cream van when they arrived. They must have been happy to get out. They don't attend the UK embassy party and they had to boycott one of their favourite ones – the US ambassador's Fourth of July bash because of the US's stance on Gaza.
Labour and the Social Democrats also snubbed Uncle Sam this year, although the members of Independent Ireland were happy to attend.
They all came together to toast La République (proposed in a proud Cavan accent by Dublin Lord Mayor Ray McAdam) and Ireland (proposed by the ambassador) and to hear Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill deliver a speech in fluent French.
It was most impressive.
There wasn't a frog's leg or a piece of fromage in sight but the wine flowed and waiters patrolling the lawns with magnums of Whispering Angel rosé were in great demand.
Somehow, the denizens of Leinster House managed to regroup for their end-of-term parties on Wednesday night before the Dáil and Seanad rose on Thursday for the summer recess.
They'll be back in mid-September.
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Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
A rules-based order - but who makes the rules?
Earlier this month the Taoiseach Micheál Martin made a four-day trip to Japan to strengthen bi-lateral ties between the two countries. During a speech at the opening of the new Ireland House in Tokyo the Taoiseach said: 'The Ireland-Japan relationship is built on a solid foundation of shared and longstanding commitment to the rules-based international order. We share a vision for a future of peace and prosperity for all, built through international co-operation, democratic values and peaceful resolution of disputes.' He went on to note that 'these shared values were already evident in 1974, the year that Ireland established its first embassy here in Tokyo. In that year, Ireland's former minister for foreign affairs, Seán MacBride, and the former Prime Minister of Japan, Eisaku Satō, shared that year's Nobel Peace Prize for their work on disarmament.' To underline the importance of Ireland-Japan collaboration on disarmament the Taoiseach also visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park during his trip. There he met with hibakusha, survivors of the US's atomic bomb attacks. The Taoiseach spoke to journalists about the harrowing testimony he heard from Teruko Yakata, who was eight years old when the bomb was dropped on her hometown, and about the legacy of trauma still suffered by Yakata and other survivors. As he was leaving Hiroshima Mr Martin was asked if he believed the world was a more dangerous now than in 1945. 'I believe it is,' he answered, 'it is in a very dangerous place.' The Taoiseach was right to highlight Ireland's proud tradition of international leadership on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. This is a particularly important history to underline whilst visiting Japan, which remains the only country to have suffered attack with nuclear weapons. The United Nations' landmark Treaty of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), signed in 1968, had its origins in the 1950s when then Fianna Fáil foreign minister Frank Aiken introduced the first of what became known as the 'Irish Resolutions' which eventually led to the NPT. Aiken was the first to sign the NPT in 1968 in recognition of Ireland's crucial role in advancing the cause of disarmament. The Taoiseach Micheál Martin was right to highlight Ireland's proud tradition of international leadership on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. File photo: GIS Press Office Yet, at the very same time as the Taoiseach was in Japan promoting Ireland's commitment to international diplomacy and disarmament, he is leading a government that is trying to fundamentally re-orient Ireland's foreign policy away from disarmament and international peace building towards militarization and war-fighting alliances. In doing so Mr Martin and his government are betraying the foreign policy achievements of Aiken and his own party, Fianna Fáil, but more importantly they are betraying the will and trust of the Irish people who remain deeply attached to active neutrality. Opinion polls consistently show a large majority of the Irish public support maintaining neutrality. A poll conducted in January by Uplift found that 75% were in favour of maintaining neutrality. In April another poll, conducted by The Irish Times and Ipsos, found that 63% of people wanted to keep Ireland's neutrality as it is. The Government's revolution in foreign affairs In his speech to the Global Ireland Summit on May 6 this year the Taoiseach said that even in newly volatile geopolitical conditions 'Ireland will maintain its role as a strong advocate for the rules-based international order, with the UN at its centre.' Yet, his government is actively undermining the UN in its quest to remove the Triple Lock, legislation that requires a UN mandate for more than 12 members of the Irish Defence Forces to be deployed overseas. The government justify this change on the basis of false claims that Russia and China enjoy a veto over Irish peace-keeping missions in the UN Security Council. It is not only the UN Security Council that can authorize peace-keeping missions. File picture: REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton This is not true because it is not only the UN Security Council that can authorize peace-keeping missions. The UN General Assembly also has the power to do so. Further, this is a hypothetical. China alone has exercised such a veto, and then only once regarding the extension of an existing UN peace-keeping mission. That was in 1999, before the Triple Lock existed. Why is the government making these false claims? Removing the need for a UN mandate on deploying Irish Defence Forces personnel overseas would allow this government - and any future Irish government - to commit Irish troops to EU and NATO military operations. Remarkably the government insist that removing the Triple Lock will not impact Ireland's neutrality, but participating in western military alliances would clearly mark the end of neutrality. Participating in EU and NATO military operations overseas without UN backing is certainly not compatible with what the Irish public understand neutrality to mean. Further, states around the world, including those that the government claim are already hostile, will understand that Ireland is no longer to be regarded as a neutral state. This will only serve to increase the security risks Ireland faces, not defend against them. Whilst the government continue to pay lip service to neutrality it is clear they aim to abandon it in order to explicitly 'take sides' with the US, EU, and NATO in international conflicts, even when this is manifestly against the wishes of the Irish people. Ireland is in effect undergoing a quiet revolution in foreign affairs imposed from above, even as the government lacks a mandate to fundamentally reorient the state's place in the world. All those interested in Ireland's future security and in world peace, should be extremely concerned by the government's backdoor erosion of neutrality. 'Rules-based international order' vs The UN Despite the Taoiseach's insistence that Ireland remains committed to a 'rules-based international order, with the UN at its centre,' his government is actively trying to depart from a world in which the UN is the body tasked with defining, governing, and sometimes policing the 'rules-based international order'. In attempting to remove the requirement for a UN mandate to deploy Irish troops overseas, Mr Martin and his government have been arguing that the UN is not the international guarantor of international order but rather an obstacle to it, on the basis that Russia and China might hypothetically veto peacekeeping missions. Likewise, the government are arguing that the role of these states within the UN Security Council is an obstacle to the exercise of Irish sovereignty. This might make sense if Irish sovereignty were defined by the capacity to join EU and NATO military operations overseas without a UN mandate. This might make sense if the rules of the 'rules-based international order' are set not by the UN but by the US, EU, and their allies. However, it is incompatible with a commitment to a 'rules-based international order' governed by the UN. It is interesting to note that western governments, including our own, are increasingly using the terminology of 'rules-based international order' rather than reference the UN or 'international law'. Whilst a majority of the public no doubt understands the 'rules-based international order' to refer to the UN and the existing institutions of international law the sudden popularity of this term amongst western states indicates that it may mean something quite different. It seems clear from the Irish government's maneuverings around the Triple Lock that the 'rules-based international order' they have in mind is at very least not principally defined by the UN. This is extremely concerning given that we can see the type of 'rules' western states adopt beyond the frame of the UN. The active material and diplomatic support given to Israel's genocide in Gaza by the US, the UK, and the EU (notably Germany) indicates that the 'rules-based international order' these states have in mind has no regard for international law whatsoever, at least not when it applies to them or their allies. It is right and reasonable then that the public ask who defines the 'rules' of the ''rules-based international order' and whose interests these 'rules' might serve. America first 'America should write the rules. America should call the shots. Other countries should play by the rules that America and our partners set, and not the other way around.' It may surprise some that these are not the words of President Trump but of former President Barack Obama, writing in the Washington Post in 2016. Obama was writing about the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement designed to constrain China's increasing influence over Pacific trade, but regardless of the context, the quote is indicative of a fundamental set of assumptions about the role of the US in the world - assumptions common to US liberals and conservatives alike, Democrats as well as Republicans, and shared by most European states, certainly those that are also members of NATO. The Taoiseach and his government like to argue that the Russian invasion of Ukraine marked the beginning of a new world and that Ireland's foreign policy must adapt to meet the changing times. According to the government this means abandoning neutrality (in everything but name) and massive increases in military spending to prepare Ireland for future conflict with Russia, or even China. Former US President Barak Obama wrote in the Washington Post in 2016: 'America should write the rules. America should call the shots'. File photo: Chris Jackson/PA The EU White Paper on European Defence published in March makes the direction of EU foreign policy travel and expectations of military spending for member states very clear. Yet this breakneck European militarization is not only a reaction to Russia's invasion of Ukraine but responds to a longer term strategic shift of US resources and attention away from European security towards Chinese containment. This move was first announced in 2009 with Obama's 'Pivot to Asia' but was pursued more aggressively since under both Trump and Biden administrations. Hence, it is crucial that we understand European militarization not simply as a collective response to Russian aggression in Ukraine, but a development dictated by the shifting geostrategic priorities of the US. I am hardly alone in wondering if Obama's upcoming visit to Dublin in September is partly timed to smooth public concerns about militarization ahead of a Dáil vote on the Triple Lock, by presenting an image of US leadership more acceptable to the Irish public than the current occupant of the White House. Government fog It is reasonable that there be a frank and honest discussion of the changes the government are trying to implement to Ireland's foreign policy, that the real drivers and consequences of these transformations are acknowledged, and that the policy changes proposed are open to serious democratic scrutiny and challenge. Currently, this is not the case. The nature and stakes of the changes the government are trying to implement are shrouded in a technocratic fog and most media coverage platforms anti-neutrality partisans, advocates of militarization, and arms lobbyists as the relevant 'experts'. Government parties protest that they are being honest with the public, but in reality they are trying to ensure their plans are subject to as little democratic oversight as possible. The government know that a great majority of Irish people do not support the changes they are attempting to ram through and that insulating them from transparency is the best path to success. The government's gamble is that if the public don't know about - or understand – that removing the Triple Lock means the end of Ireland's neutrality then they won't mount any meaningful opposition. By the time Irish troops are being sent to take part in multiple EU 'Battlegroups' overseas and the public spending needed to address pressing crises in housing, health, care, and climate is being used to buy fighter jets it will be too late. Such a scenario is not a conspiracy but a plan, and it lies just on the other side of a successful vote on removing the Triple Lock. The coalition have promised a vote when the Dáil returns from summer recess. Merrion Square Just opposite the Dáil in Merrion Square Park stand two memorials marking the horrors of war. Facing government buildings is the National Memorial to members of the Defence Forces who died in the Service of the State, a pyramid-shaped structure by the sculptor Brian King, unveiled in 2008 by then President Mary McAleese. Close by a small plaque marks the spot where a cherry tree was planted in 1980 by the Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament 'in memory of A-bomb victims'. Just metres away from each other, these memorials offer a stark reminder of the distance the Irish government has already gone in weakening the foreign policy positions that have been Ireland's strength on the world stage. The principled stand Ireland has taken against militarization, imperialism, and great power conflict have ensured this country enjoys a positive international reputation and outsize diplomatic influence, particularly in the Global South. The Irish public are rightly proud of and deeply attached to this legacy. Pursuing a foreign policy based on international diplomacy, the peaceful resolution of conflict, and independence from military alliances has not always been an easy path and it has often displeased friendly states on whom Ireland is economically dependent. Then-Taoiseach, Brian Cowen and Then-President, Mary McAleese at the ceremony in 2008 at Merrion Square to mark the Dedication of the National Memorial to Members of the Defence Forces who have died in the service of the State. File photo: Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland However, it has not only been the right thing to do - upholding the state's values, as expressed in the Constitution - but it has also served the country's interests well. A lack of enemies has been, and remains, Ireland's best defence. The Irish public remember the lessons of our own history, and the terrible costs of war, even as the government seem determined to forget them. Opinion polls show that a very large majority of the Irish public are deeply attached to a vision of Ireland that is opposed to imperialism and war. However, active neutrality is not simply a popular policy position but something that people strongly identify with, that touches on the core of what they understand 'Irishness' to be. The government's attempts to remove the Triple Lock threatens to undermine this crucial connection between people and State. Betraying the public on this issue risks sowing alienation, suspicion, and resentment - sentiments already providing fertile soil for the growth of anti-democratic and far right forces across the country. The government is right that the world is changing. It is up to all of those invested in democracy, peace, and international co-operation – best expressed in the existing institutions of the UN – to ensure they make the right response. Read More Government proposal on triple Lock gives an Irish solution to an Irish problem
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
US government offered to use spy satellites to verify IRA arms dumps were decommissioned
The US government offered to use its satellite surveillance systems to verify whether IRA arms dumps had been concreted over during discussions about decommissioning. According to new government files released by the national archives in London, a White House official put forward the idea to the British in 2000 when the issue of putting arms beyond use was one of the most contentious topics between all sides. In a phone call with Bill Jeffrey, the political director of the Northern Ireland Office, the idea was put forward by Dick Norland, a senior US diplomat. 'Norland said that he had raised with [Irish civil servant] Dermot Gallagher whether US satellite surveillance could conceivably have a part to play in verifying that IRA weapons dumps had been sealed, eg by concreting over,' said Mr Jeffrey in a memo of the call. READ MORE 'This might be a bit off the wall, but seems worth exploring.' At the time, Mr Gallagher had also raised the idea of using satellites to replace surveillance from security towers in south Armagh. 'We were pretty clear that would not work. Norland agreed,' wrote Mr Jeffrey. 'When Gallagher had raised the idea with [deputy national security adviser Jim] Steinberg, 'Jim laughed it out of the room'.' The newly released documents contain substantial correspondence about decommissioning and illustrate how the British became increasingly frustrated at the slow pace of the process. About 14 months after the Norland call, the British ambassador to Ireland, Ivor Roberts, said he was sceptical of decommissioning and 'wish we had never got into the game'. 'As Sinn Féin have reminded Fianna Fáil, the latter never decommissioned, they merely buried their arms and stood down their army,' he wrote in a memo. Republican graffiti in east Belfast referring to IRA decommissioning. Photograph: Paul Faith/PA 'I actually believe that it would be more productive if we had been on that tack and if we, the Irish government and the US had been at one in getting the IRA to transmogrify themselves into a retired serviceman's league.' His note came in February 2002 when there were worries that a failure of the IRA to make a move on decommissioning would prompt another crisis in the peace process. 'We do indeed seem to be drifting towards the shoals without a clear idea of how to keep ourselves afloat,' wrote Mr Roberts. British civil servants had argued that they needed to see a significant move towards decommissioning by the IRA in response to demilitarisation in Northern Ireland. John Sawers, prime minister Tony Blair's foreign affairs adviser, wrote in another memo the British had to retain the ability to crack down on racketeering and smuggling, and highlighted the role that prominent republican Thomas 'Slab' Murphy played in it. 'The Irish are better placed to pursue the Al Capone route against PIRA and RIRA on their side of the border (though whether they would ever put Slab Murphy in the dock on smuggling charges is doubtful),' he wrote. Murphy, whose farm at Ballybinaby, Hackballscross, Co Louth, straddles the Border with Northern Ireland, was found guilty in 2016 of nine charges of failing to comply with tax laws in the Irish Republic for the years 1996-1997 to 2004. He was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment.
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Michael McDowell pushed for British amnesty for IRA members without trial, UK files reveal
Michael McDowell argued as attorney general in 2000 that the British government could avoid a struggle to pass Westminster legislation to give 'on-the-run' IRA members an amnesty. Instead, Mr McDowell, who is now a member of Seanad Éireann, repeatedly suggested that the British could use a centuries-old law to grant pardons without prosecuting any of them. This seems to have been met with astonishment by British officials. The difficulties posed by Sinn Féin's demands for 'on-the-run' IRA members – some of whom were sought for offences such as murder – to be given guarantees features in British archive files released on Tuesday. The treatment of the IRA 'on the runs', better known simply as 'OTRs', became a major controversy in 2014 when it was revealed that nearly 300 IRA members had been given so-called 'comfort letters' saying they were not then wanted by British police. READ MORE The issue emerged in February 2014 when John Downey, an alleged IRA member, faced trial in London for the July 1982 Hyde Park bombing, which killed four British soldiers and seven horses. His Old Bailey trial collapsed when it emerged that he had received his comfort letter in 2007 even though there was an active warrant for his arrest. The trial judge halted the trial after ruling this was an abuse of process. Under Mr McDowell's proposal in 2000, which went farther than the comfort letter tactic later used, the British government would have been able, he said, to avoid bringing strongly opposed immunity legislation before Westminster. The idea 'first surfaced' at a meeting between Irish and British officials in Dublin in early November 2000 when the British side was told Mr McDowell believed London could grant 'pardons before convictions' to IRA members. The proposal was outlined in greater depth to the British side in November 2000 at 'a hastily arranged' meeting, where Mr McDowell was described in a British note as being 'quite a student of the English legal system, and admired its flexibility'. However, British officials doubted the idea from the off, saying a royal pardon could be used only after sentence, while a free pardon could expunge the effects of a conviction. Mr McDowell came back to his idea when he was included in the Irish delegation, which included Bertie Ahern , then taoiseach, which travelled from London with British prime minister Tony Blair for an EU meeting in Zagreb, Croatia, shortly afterwards. Here, Mr McDowell again argued that wanted IRA members could be given 'a prosecution amnesty', citing the decision by the British not to prosecute Soviet spy Anthony Blunt for treachery. 'His basic thesis seemed to be that our legal system was sufficiently flexible to allow immunity to be granted without the need for primary legislation,' the Northern Ireland Office's political director, Bill Jeffreys, told an official in the British attorney general's office. He said he had told Mr McDowell his proposal ran counter to the views of the British attorney general, who was 'unwilling' to give immunity to individuals on general public interest grounds. However, if Mr McDowell was arguing that the Northern Ireland secretary of state could 'pre-empt prosecution in a whole class of cases' then that would be 'an entirely new departure'. Widening the grounds for immunity 'seemed to me to run entirely against the trend, and would be very difficult to justify in today's conditions, when we would be expected to seek the necessary powers from parliament', Mr Jeffreys also said. Separately, the files also show the efforts Sinn Féin made to ensure leading IRA figures in the United States such as Gabriel Megahey would not be deported. Now, 25 years later, they are now facing fresh expulsion attempts by Donald Trump's administration. Bill Clinton , US president at the time, had wanted to 'tie off the loose end' created by the six men's issues before he left office, fearing the incoming George W Bush presidency would be less sympathetic. In 1997, US secretary of state Madeleine Albright 'persuaded the US attorney general to suspend deportation action' against the men on 'the foreign policy grounds that it would contribute to the NI political process'. The importance of the OTR issue to Sinn Féin is evident throughout the files, with the party's Gerry Kelly 'grumbling' to Northern Ireland Office officials 'that the lack of movement was causing Sinn Féin great difficulties'.
