MP visits John Downey in Belmarsh Prison – TD raises case with Tánaiste in Dáil

» John Hedges

An Phoblacht Editor

'All this is doing is undermining the Peace Process and it doesn’t benefit anyone except those who want the Peace Process to fail'

DONEGAL REPUBLICAN John Downey's case has been raised in the Dáil by Sinn Féin TD Seán Crowe while Pat Doherty MP has visited John in Belmarsh Prison in England again.

Pat Doherty visited John in Belmarsh on Thursday of last week.

The Sinn Féin MP said John found himself behind bars because of bad faith by securocrats but “in good spirits” considering how he has been treated.

“This is my second visit to John in the past three weeks,” Pat Doherty said. “I conveyed soildarity greetings to him on behalf of his friends and comrades in Donegal and throughout Ireland and further afield.”

Pat continues to liaise with John’s family and well-known civil rights solicitor Gareth Pierce “who is working tirelessly to resolve the situation and have John returned to his family as soon as possible”.

Pat Doherty added:

“John Downey is a member of Sinn Féin and a long-time supporter of the Peace Process. The decision to arrest and charge him in relation to IRA activities in the early 1980s is vindictive, unnecessary and unhelpful.

“As part of the Weston Park negotiation, the British Government committed to resolving the position of ‘On the Runs’ (OTRs). John Downey received a letter from the NIO in 2007 stating that he was not wanted by the PSNI or any British police force. Despite travelling to England on many occasions, now, six years on, he finds himself before the courts on these historic charges.

“This development represents bad faith and a departure from what was previously agreed by both governments. Sinn Féin will continue to support John until his situation is satisfactorily resolved. And we will continue to make whatever representations we feel will expedite John's release.

“John Downey needs to be released and allowed to return home to his family.”

Crowe raises John Downey’s case in Dáil

REPRESENTATIONS made previously by Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Diaspora, Seán Crowe TD, to Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Eamon Gilmore were heard in the Dáil on Friday.

The Dublin TD, who is also a member of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, used his parliamentary question time with the Tánaiste to highlight John’s case.

He called on the Tánaiste and the Irish Government to raise the issue with the British Government and request John’s immediate release.

He said later:

“I discussed John’s arrest with the Tánaiste in the Dáil today and I welcome his commitment to follow John’s case closely and to ensure that he receives all the consular assistance he needs.

“However, the Tánaiste and the government need to ensure that John Downey is released and allowed to return home to his family immediately.”

He reiterated Sinn Féin’s view that John’s arrest and treatment represents a departure from what was previously agreed by both governments.

“All this is doing is undermining the Peace Process and it doesn’t benefit anyone except those who want the Peace Process to fail.

“The Tánaiste needs to strongly remind the British Government of the commitments it signed up to and that his government won’t sit idly by while they break these mutually agreed guarantees.”

◼  Seán Crowe also revealed that John Downey's local TD, Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty, was denied a representational visit to Belmarsh Prison.

Pat Doherty was informed htat he will not be permitted a similar visit in the future.

Seán Crowe described some issues such as the delay in John Downey receiving clothes sent in from his family to the prison as “vindictive”.

An Phoblacht, which was requested by John, was banned, he revealed, “because of the Irish content in that newspaper despite the fact that  other prisoners don’t seem to have a problem in relation to other language publications”.