TD’s Defend Representation of Prisoners

Date Published: 08-Jul-2008

MINISTER for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív TD has said that he has no hesitation in standing over the representation he made on behalf of a convicted prisoner who is currently serving a 24 year sentence in Limerick Prison.

He was one of four Galway TDs and one senator who were revealed to have lobbied on behalf of prisoners, according to data from the Department of Justice obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

Fianna Fail’s Frank Fahey TD, Noel Treacy TD, former Senator Margaret Cox and Fine Gael’s Galway East TD Paul Connaughton also made such representations on behalf of criminals.

The revelation has evoked an angry reaction from victim support groups who contend that their needs are being ignored at the expense of convicted criminals. However, Minister Ó Cuív said: “Of course victims are important, but what differreaence does it make to a victim whether a prisoner is in a training unit or in Limerick Prison?”

He said that he had worked with prisoners for many years and made many representations on their behalf and on behalf of others. “Every citizen, irrespective of their past, has certain fundamental rights and one of those rights is the right to representation,” he added.

Frank Fahey TD was more cautious however, and said that every case had to be assessed on its merits but he stressed that he certainly would not make representations in cases involving “serious crime”.

He had lobbied on behalf of a prisoner serving a six month sentence in Castlerea Prison for driving without insurance on the basis that his two children were suffering from severe illnesses.

The prisoner on whose behalf Minister Ó Cuív made the representation was originally imprisoned in
the UK but was transferred to Limerick Prison subsequent to enquiries made by the minister. It is not
known what he was jailed for. “I have been engaged in a long and very interesting correspondence with him over the years,” said Minister Ó Cuív. “He has worked hard and studied and he is at the end of a very long sentence after which…