THE SUPREME Court has dismissed the appeal by Michael McKevitt against his conviction for organising terrorist activities for the Real IRA.
Michael McKevitt had appealed his conviction and 20-year prison sentence on more than 30 grounds, including several grounds relating to the credibility of the State's key witness against him, FBI agent David Rupert.
Yesterday, the five-judge Supreme Court, with the Chief Justice, Mr Justice John Murray, presiding and sitting with Mrs Justice Susan Denham, Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman, Mr Justice Nial Fennelly and Mr Justice Hugh Geoghegan dismissed the appeal on all grounds.
McKevitt (54), Beech Park, Blackrock, Co Louth, was convicted by the non-jury Special Criminal Court in August 2003 of organising terrorist activities for the Real IRA and jailed for 20 years.
He is the first person in the State to be jailed for directing terrorist activities.
McKevitt lost his appeal against conviction in 2005 but the Court of Criminal Appeal granted his application to have points of law in his case determined by the Supreme Court, effectively allowing a fresh appeal to that court.
Among the grounds of appeal was that the defence case had been undermined through prosecution failure to disclose all material relating to the credibility of David Rupert.
McKevitt's lawyers had argued they were not supplied with important information in relation to Mr Rupert, a New York native who infiltrated the Real IRA and attended Real IRA army council meetings at which, Mr Rupert said, McKevitt was present.
It was further argued there was inadequate disclosure of documentary evidence relevant to Mr Rupert's credibility in the possession of authorities outside of the jurisdiction. There had been piecemeal and late disclosure of material, including Garda surveillance records, which prejudiced McKevitt's right to a fair trial, it was submitted.
It was also argued the Special Criminal Court failed to address Mr Rupert's alleged involvement in criminal activity and it was claimed his agreement to become an FBI agent may have been motivated by a promise by the American authorities not to investigate him.
It was also alleged that Mr Rupert was involved in a number of criminal activities including trafficking people and drugs and money laundering.
Giving the Supreme Court decision, Mr Justice Geoghegan rejected all those grounds and ruled the conviction was safe.
The Special Criminal Court had believed Mr Rupert's evidence, which they were entitled to do, he said. There was "abundant evidence" the court was fully mindful of the potential unreliability of Mr Rupert's evidence but it nevertheless believed him, the judge said.
The fact that Mr Rupert "may or may not have a shady background, depending on your point of view, and the fact that as a paid agent he might be suspect as a witness at any rate" was "neither here nor there", he added.
Mr Justice Geoghegan also ruled the defence was provided with more than adequate material, including documents from the FBI and the British security services, about Mr Rupert's past and relating to "many questionable episodes" in his life.
Any problems dealing with foreign agencies such as the FBI or British security services appeared to have been handled with great skill and fairness by the Irish authorities who appeared to have done their utmost to ensure that principles acceptable to the Irish courts would be adopted, he said.
The suggestion that material disclosed at a late stage rendered the trial so unfair that the conviction should be quashed was far fetched in the extreme, he added.