BRITAIN'S new Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, may be asked to review the case against Ms Roisin McAliskey who is in Holloway prison facing extradition proceedings brought by the German authorities.
Ms McAliskey's mother, Mrs Bernadette McAliskey, told The Irish Times that she will be discussing the possibility of referring back to the Home Office with her lawyers in London today.
Mrs McAliskey hopes the new administration will be prepared to review the case in the light of the collapse of alleged identification evidence, and at least reconsider the circumstances in which her daughter is held from a humanitarian viewpoint.
Ms McAliskey is to appear at Bow Street court tomorrow, although it is unclear if she will be fit to travel. Her baby is expected in about two weeks and Ms McAliskey now appears dependent on a wheelchair for any substantial movement outside her cell.
There are continuing worries about her health and that of the baby. The prison authorities have told Mrs McAliskey her daughter's use of the wheelchair is not a cause of great concern. But her last examination and scan a week ago suggested the baby's weight was "significantly under 5 lb".
Mrs McAliskey said that "if they could get it up to 5 lb then she'd be out of the woods".
Pointing to "major discrepancies in the case since it was first considered by the former Home Secretary, Mr Michael Howard, Mrs McAliskey said: "There might be a possibility of sending it back to the Home Secretary. I mean, it was never worth considering under Howard." And whether or not Mr Straw would come to a different view about the proceedings now underway, there is cautious hope that the new Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, might be favourably disposed to the case for transferring Ms McAliskey to Magaberry prison.