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Fallout from Hutch acquittal will roll on today with questions likely to follow

Inside Politics: As the Dáil returns, Government to publish economic projections that include large surplus

Gerry Hutch pictured after he was aquitted of the murder of David Byrne at the Special Criminal Court. Photograph: Colin Keegan/Collins Dublin

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Pat Leahy
Tue Apr 18 2023 - 07:46

One story dominates the front pages today: the acquittal of Gerry Hutch on charges of murder at the Special Criminal Court yesterday. At the end of the so-called trial of the century, comes the verdict: not guilty. There’s wall-to-wall coverage this morning. “Thanks very Hutch”, says the Mirror; “The Midas Hutch”, says the Star. The Indo says: “Exit the Monk”.

In The Irish Times, Legal Affairs Correspondent Mary Carolan and Security and Crime Editor Conor Lally report that Mr Hutch remains under investigation, despite the acquittal.

Mary Carolan has a comprehensive report of the verdict here and her analysis is here. Conor Lally profiles Mr Hutch here.

The separation of powers between the political and judicial arms of Government means that Ministers and Opposition were reticent to comment about the outcome of the trial. Minister for Justice Simon Harris said An Garda Síochána’s investigation into the murder and events at the Regency Hotel on February 5th 2016 remained “live and is continuing”.

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But there are likely to be questions today about the nature of the investigation and the prosecution and the fact that Mr Hutch, widely acknowledged to be a key figure in organised crime, is now free. Conor Gallagher has questions here.

And there is no mistaking the discomfort of Sinn Féin at the whole episode. State witness Jonathan Dowdall was a councillor for the party and a donor to Mary Lou McDonald and all those questions about his involvement with the party, and his comments during the trial about how McDonald should have supported the Hutch family, which the party —reasonably — declined to address in any detail during the trial, are now resurfacing.

McDonald issued a statement reiterating that Dowdall “should never have been a member” of Sinn Féin. But he was a member, and she’s unlikely to be allowed to forget it by her opponents. The Sinn Féin leader endured a fairly bruising interview on RTÉ last night. The fallout will continue today.

Long-awaited report

If the day of the Hutch trial was a good day to bury bad news, it hasn’t banished absolutely everything from the news agenda. The Department of Health finally published the long-awaited report on the botched appointment of the former chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan to a post at Trinity College last year. The secondment of Dr Holohan to the post was abandoned after a political storm blew up about it and the report has been awaited since last summer.

It contains criticisms of the process and the involvement of Dr Holohan in aspects of it. But for many around Government, it is the glaring disagreements about what exactly happened between three of the top officials in the administration that will stick out. The accounts of Robert Watt and of Martin Fraser and Deirdre Gillane are sharply at odds in several respects. Watt is certain to be asked about all this when he appears before an Oireachtas committee tomorrow. In other words, this ain’t over yet.

Reports here and here.

The Government will today unveil the Stability Programme Update, one of the economic documents required by EU rules, which contains updated forecasts for the public finances for the coming years. Corporation tax is continuing to drive huge surpluses — more than €8 billion this year, and possibly more by the time we get to the end of the year, though €4 billion of that has already been shunted into the Government’s rainy day fund. The bulging exchequer will be eyed hungrily by Ministers as they approach the budget and with an election in the middle distance. Sure what could possibly go wrong?

Best reads

We have extensive reporting of the major conference in Queen’s University on the conference to mark 25 years of the Belfast Agreement.

The other trial of the century.

Also on the front page, a landlord who evicts people is resisting eviction.

The Irish man serving as the European Union’s ambassador to Sudan is assaulted.

Playbook

Busy day ahead. There’ll be the continuing fallout from the Hutch trial, while the Dáil returns after a two-week Easter break and the Cabinet holds its weekly meeting at Government Buildings. There was no meeting last week (everyone was busy with Uncle Joe Biden), so expect a busy agenda this morning, with the Ministers for Finance and for Public Expenditure launching their economic document afterwards.

Leaders’ Questions is at 2pm and then the order of business for the week, Taoiseach’s Questions, Justice Questions, the final stages of the Finance Bill and a Sinn Féin motion on housing, of course. What else?

There are a couple of pieces of Government legislation due for passage in the Seanad, while at the committees, there are hearings on wind energy, mental health, autism, the future of science education, housing, youth work, domestic violence legislation and sustainable development. Something for everyone there. Full list on oireachtas.ie We’ll keep up with it all as best we can on irishtimes.com.