A CO Donegal man who successfully challenged his exclusion from Britain in the European Court of Justice has lost a claim for damages in the London Court of Appeal.
Mr John Gallagher said yesterday that the ruling "means my human rights are worth very little in the eyes of British justice".
Mr Gallagher's lawyer insisted that he won an important human rights victory in Europe, forcing the British government to change its operation of exclusion orders.
The European court last year found Mr Gallagher's exclusion from Britain in 1991 was in breach of the EU directive on the free movement of labour.
Mr Gallagher (36), from Ballyshannon, Co Donegal, had sought damages from the London Court of Appeal following the European ruling. He contended he lost his job and experienced significant health and personal problems following his exclusion from Britain.
The London court this week rejected his claim, although it recognised his exclusion was in breach of EU law. Details of the judgment emerged yesterday.
The three judge court, presided over by Lord Justice Bingham, ruled that the violation of EU law complained of did not cause the financial losses and personal trauma for which he sought compensation.
It also found that Mr Gallagher had failed to show that the UK's breach in failing correctly to transpose the EU directive on, freedom of the movement of labour into domestic law was sufficiently serious.
It added that Mr Gallagher would have been excluded from Britain even if he had been granted a right to appeal his exclusion and rejected his claim.
The judgement concluded. "Although Mr Gallagher has succeeded in establishing a violation by the UK of Community law, we are of opinion that he can show no ground upon which he can recover damages."
Mr Gallagher was convicted of possessing arms and ammunition at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin in 1983. He served two years of a three year sentence in a Portlaoise Prison. He was active in Sinn Fein in the 1980s but left the party in 1987 and ended his involvement in republican politics.
"Five years later, I have still been given no reason for my exclusion," he said. "I was arbitrarily deported to Ireland in 1991 and that wreaked havoc for my working and personal life. But I've never been told why."
Mr Michael Farrell, one of Mr Gallagher's legal representatives, said he was disappointed with the London court's ruling.
He said the judges had recognised there was a breach of EU law in the decision to exclude Mr Gallagher but had still rejected the claim for damages.
He was also disappointed that the British government had merely changed the law in regard to the operation of exclusion orders rather than scrapping the orders completely. But Mr Gallagher had still won a significant victory in Europe, Mr Farrell stressed.
In future, people facing exclusion orders would have to be given notice of the intention to exclude them and would have the opportunity to appeal their exclusion, he explained.
John Gallagher was excluded from Britain in 1991 while he was working in London and immediately deported to Ireland. His then partner, who was eight and a half months pregnant, followed him shortly afterwards.
The European Court of Justice found EU law was breached because Mr Gallagher's exclusion was ordered before the adviser gave his opinion and without allowing Mr Gallagher make representations to the adviser.