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PB October/November 2023 October/November 2023 13
In 2017, the year following his release, he
was charged with blackmail, threats and
assault. The charges against him were
withdrawn quite quickly.
Despite this, the Parole Commissioners
withdrew his licence and returned him to
prison. His lawyers pointed out this was “even
though he has not been convicted in a criminal
court”. When they took the decision, the
Commissioners had not seen the statements of
the alleged victim or his partner. The North’s
High Court overturned the withdrawal of
Coyle’s licence. The Judge said the withdrawal
of the licence had been based on untested
hearsay evidence.
Martin Corey is a former life-sentence
prisoner and member of Republican Sinn
Féinfrom Lurgan. He had been imprisoned for
four years when the Parole Board revoked his
licence. He was released, again under licence.
Media were prohibited from reporting the
conditions of the licence.
Former Old Bailey bomber Marian Price had
her licence revoked in 2011 because the
North’s Secretary of State ruled the threat she
posed had “signifi cantly increased”. She had
been at an Easter Commemoration in Derry’s
city cemetery, where she held a piece of paper
for a masked man who read a speech from it.
Her lawyer said that she had been asked to hold
it because it was a windy day and that she had
no idea what the speech contained. She was in
her late 50s and in poor health. She was
imprisoned for a further two years.
We are in a situation where the New IRA has
extremely limited support. Its killing of Lyra
McKee, caused revulsion. As a result, perhaps,
there is little public concern at the treatment of
persons charged in connection with dissident
Republicanism.
as part of Operation Arbacia, aiming to reduce
the threat posed by violent dissident
republicans. Their arrest was part of a joint
police and MI5 surveillance operation. The
security forces had bugged two meetings at
rented houses in Mid-Tyrone. Defence barrister
Joe Brolly said meetings were instigated,
organised and directed by Denis McFadden, an
MI5 agent.
The six now in custody are Gary Hayden from
Derry: Shea Reynolds and Amanda Duffy
(McCabe) from Lurgan: Kevin Barry Murphy
from Coalisland, Co Tyrone: Damien McLaughlin
from Ardboe, Co Tyrone: and Davy Jordan
(Sharon Jordan’s husband) from Cappagh, Co
Tyrone.
Earlier, in the noughties, Murphy spent
almost two and a half years in custody on
remand. He and three others were charged with
possession of a rocket launcher. There was no
forensic evidence linking him or the others to
the weapon. The case against them collapsed
when it emerged they had been accompanied
by a fi fth man, a police agent.
The treatment of Omagh dissident
Republican Gavin Coyle has also been harsh.
During the last decade Coyle has spent fi ve
years in solitary confi nement. He had pleaded
guilty to possessing rifl es, ammunition and
explosives. Prison authorities refused to move
him to the Republican wing of Maghaberry
prison.
V
eteran civil rights campaigner and
socialist Eamonn McCann has
accused the Northern authorities of
practising “internment by remand”
in the case of seven alleged New IRA
members. Six of them have been remanded in
custody since their arrest in August 2020. A
seventh, Sharon Jordan, had been in custody
since August 2020, but was bailed in the last
week of September 2023.
The seven, and three others, are charged
with participating in two New IRA Army Council
meetings in Mid-Tyrone. Denis McFadden, a
state agent, arranged the meetings. The three
others had been bailed earlier.
McCann said he was concerned this was a
confi dential state operation. “These people
were set up,” he said. “These people were
arrested, but one of the instigators was not. I
am concerned there has been remarkably little
protest”.
It’s not a pedantic concern. It’s central to
democracy, human rights and the rule of law.
McCann considers that: “It is right that people
are committed to peace. Ninety-fi ve percent of
people support the peace process. The peace
process required people to put knowledge of
the actions of the State to the back of their
minds. Thus many people keep quiet about
what they would have shouted about in years
past.”
Judge Adrian Colton, in the Northern Ireland
High Court, also expressed serious
apprehensions.
Granting bail to Sharon Jordan, Judge Colton
said he had “grave concern” at the time she
had spent in custody. “That passage of time, in
my view, tilts the balance in favour of the
applicant”, he said. “The fact that the applicant
is now in custody in excess of three years
awaiting trial is a matter of great concern”. He
pointed out her trial was unlikely to get
underway before 2025.
Sharon Jordan and the others were arrested
Because there is almost universal revulsion
at some of their acts, there is little public
concern at the treatment of persons charged
in connection with dissident Republicanism
NEWS
By Anton McCabe
There has never been an end to ‘Internment by remand’ in the North
Interning dissident Republicans
