Letter to Dermot Ahern, TD-Foreign Affairs (Dublin) -- Stormont Watch

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Date Posted: Sun, Jan 14 2007, 22:16:56 PST
Author: Hon. Sec-CR Vets Network
Subject: Letter to Dermot Ahern, TD-Foreign Affairs (Dublin)
In reply to: McDowell refuses, AGAIN! 's message, "Official letters to Noel Maguire" on Thu, Jan 11 2007, 20:29:09 PST

�Knockavoe�, Derry City BT48 7HR
E-mail:rights.civil@googlemail.com
January 16th 2007

Mr. Dermot Ahern, TD,
Department of Foreign Affairs,
Iveagh House,
St. Stephen�s Green,
Dublin 2
E-mail: dahern@iol.ie

Dear Minister Ahern,

Re: Political Prisoner, Noel Maguire,
H. M. Prison, Full Sutton, York, England.

I have written to you before on diverse matters, not least the plight of prisoners and the need for their repatriation provided for under the Euro convention on the transfer of sentenced persons. I am aware that this is not an automatic right, as both states must agree, and the prisoner must personally apply for such. This is a matter which requires mutual attention by your Department, and that of the Dept. of Justice, because both have a shared constitutional responsibility.

As the Hon. Secretary of the October 5th Association, a global network of 1968 civil rights veterans and supporters, I wish to bring to your attention the case of the above-named prisoner, whom we, and other human rights and civil liberties groups, feel is in a life-threatening environment, especially as recent repatriations have resulted in him becoming the last Irish citizen in an English jail, who wishes to be returned.. He is now alone, isolated, and extremely vulnerable, and I earnestly implore you to seriously consider his situation which naturally is causing grave concern amongst his immediate loved ones, extended family and friends. His dire plight is also attracting international attention, which of course people like me will encourage and contribute towards so that a positive remedy can be achieved, as quickly as possible. Towards that aim I hope to enlist your immediate, humane, practical and professional solidarity.

We are a totally independent network, with no formal ties to any political party or militant grouping, and only respond to requests delivered to us by the prisoners themselves, their families or other human rights or civil liberties grouping. We also act on a wide array of issues, besides those relating to sentenced persons.

I also wish to cordially request the names and the related Departments of State of all members of the current Coalition Cabinet, so that I may personally communicate to each on this matter, to collectively inform them of the situation outlined, in this correspondence. To put it bluntly, they, and you, besides the Minister for Justice and his Department, should be fully informed of the facts, so that in the future no Cabinet minister can claim that he or she was unaware of previous incidents, and/or the current dangers facing this young Irishman.

In late November 2006 Noel Maguire applied for the THIRD time to be repatriated. Within a few short weeks his application was again refused. Please study accompanying documentation from the (1) Asst. Principal Officer, Prisons & Probation Policy Division, Dept. of Justice: (2) Jason Ruffy, National Offenders Management Service, Cross Border Transfer Section, British Home Office, and (3) reply to me from the Irish Commission for Prisoners Overseas, an agency established by the Catholic Church, with its base in Maynooth, Co. Kildare.

I wish to state that as a result of correspondence No. 1, the feed-back from many people within our network, which includes prominent clergy, journalists and people who, like you are political professionals, has been highly sympathetic to Noel�s application for repatriation. Many, me included, consider Minister McDowell�s stance as being somewhat inhumane, possibly arrogant, and without doubt is bordering on the reckless, for he could well have made a life or death decision, in relation to this last political prisoner in an English jail. With no desire to sound over-dramatic, I and many others believe that Noel�s life may equally rest also in the hands of the Dublin Government, and by association, its current Ministers.

Mr. Mc Dowell has yet to fully clarify the reasons for his position, and we feel he should be more transparent and made accountable for his most recent, and third refusal to repatriate. In the past he claimed that this prisoner had no relatives in Ireland, whereas the truth of the matter is that he has no immediate family in Britain. He has family in the Six Counties, and others, including his wife and children, who are about one hour�s travel distance from Portlaoise Prison, where he wishes to be taken.

They say that an election may be held in your jurisdiction in the months ahead. It is of no benefit whatsoever to you, your party or your Fianna Fail colleagues in the Coalition Cabinet, to maintain this unjustified and unwarranted status quo. Since Mr. McDowell has blocked, and is still blocking the repatriation process, then I feel that you and your party colleagues in Government should enlist from him, at least some degree of rational explanation for his serial refusals in this case. Could it be that he considers himself to be above and beyond those modern-day democratic standards which embrace the need to be transparent and accountable?

I will end by outlining in brief why I and many within our network, and other international groupings, believe that Mr. Maguire should immediately be brought home to be near his loved ones, besides any understandable consideration of a general election pending:

1. He is an Irish citizen, born in Co. Fermanagh, who holds a valid Irish passport, issued in Dublin.

2. He easily qualifies for repatriation under the European directive, which allows prisoners to be moved back to their own country to serve their sentence closer to their family for purely humanitarian reasons.

3. There was an attempt to murder Mr. Maguire in October 2005 in which he received serious knife wounds. Two non-Irish inmates are awaiting trial for attempted murder; such were his injuries, for which he was hospitalised. He, as stated above, is now alone and very isolated and, former inmates repatriated on December 9th, his immediate family and various agencies and groups are convinced that his life remains constantly under threat!

4. His physical and mental well-being is our primary concern, a stance that should also be embraced by all democratically elected representatives of the Irish people who, one believes, should be genuinely concerned on issues relating to human rights and civil liberties. The serial refusals to repatriate this prisoner place him in great jeopardy, and it is not the British Home Office that is blocking his transfer, but ironically a cabinet colleague of your own who holds the august portfolio for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Could it be that this minister views some prisoners, more equal than others, depending upon which side of the British-imposed border they just happened to first see the light of day? One would hope and pray that such is not the case, as we �up here� may indeed be deemed extremely reluctant British subjects, but more importantly, under, what aspires to be an all-Ireland Constitution, we will vigorously continue to insist that we all must be acknowledged and thus rightly deserve to be treated like any other Irish citizen, incarcerated or not.

Is Mise,

Le Meas,

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Co-founder, N. Ireland Civil Rights Association [Jan.1967],
Hon. Secretary, Civil Rights Veterans Network

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Replies:

McDowell- Blueshirts-Last Century? -- Bogsider, Mon, Jan 15 2007, 11:14:03 PST