Michael Connolly’s IRA membership conviction overturned on appeal

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

Michael Connolly’s conviction for IRA membership was overturned by the Court of Appeal on 26 June 2018. Mr Justice Mahon delivered the court’s judgment. A retrial was subsequently ordered and held before a differently constituted division of the Special Criminal Court.

Connolly pleaded not guilty. His Special Criminal Court trial began on 9 May 2017, and he was convicted on 1 June 2017 of one count of membership of an unlawful organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Óglaigh na hÉireann, otherwise the IRA. The alleged membership date was 16 December 2014. The judgment reports a three-year prison sentence, backdated to 5 April 2017.

Assistant Commissioner Michael O'Sullivan gave evidence that he believed Connolly was a member of the organisation on the alleged date. Privilege was claimed over the material underlying that belief. Connolly’s counsel, Mr Hartnett, challenged the claim, arguing that a general refusal to answer questions impaired cross-examination and a fair trial; he accepted that privilege could arise over some material.

The Court of Appeal found the trial court’s reasons for refusing to examine the privileged material insufficient, particularly because the belief evidence was significant to the conviction. It invited submissions on the merits of a retrial. The proceedings were reported on 26 June 2018.