Eammnon Maillie was at pains on BBC Radio Five Drive (sound file – one hour in) programme to stress that the IRA would not confirm or deny whether shooting meant execution. Anthony McIntyre (and Eammon McCann later in the programme) sees co-ordination by the leadership of Sinn Fein in sending out two contradictory messages, in part to steady the nerve of many within the IRA in the wake of the killing and subsequent inaction over the killing of Bert McCartney. He remarked, “Regardless of what their critcs say about them the majority of IRA Volunteers and Sinn Fein activists are not criminal”.But McIntyre doesn’t reckon there is much chance of witnesses coming forward:
“If the IRA is trying to bounce it’s own members into making confession. But there is only a certain distance the IRA can go. The IRA can’t make people make statements otherwise those statements are coerced”. Leaving it open to a judge further down the line ruling that evidence out as being inadmissable as evidence.
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
Discover more from Slugger O'Toole
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.
