Michael Connolly’s IRA conviction declared miscarriage of justice

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Michael Connolly’s IRA membership conviction was declared a miscarriage of justice by the Special Criminal Court on 12 April 2021.

Connolly, a Co Louth man, had been convicted and jailed in June 2017, but the Court of Appeal overturned that conviction in June 2018 and he was acquitted at a 2019 retrial. The court said an assistant commissioner’s evidence created a false assurance that possible double counting of intelligence-file material and the Book of Evidence did not arise.

The three-judge court found a grave defect in the administration of justice, while recording circumstantial evidence tending to implicate Connolly in transporting two improvised explosive devices for a criminal purpose on 16 December 2014.