TD calls on McDowell to quit over comments

Independent TD Finian McGrath has called on Minister for Justice Michael McDowell to resign following his claim that journalist Frank Connolly travelled to Colombia on a false passport.

Mr McGrath said this morning that Mr McDowell's comments "undermined our justice system" and "damaged the integrity of other institutions of the State".

Speaking on RTÉ radio, he said: "Over the last few days a number of people who worked in the Department of Justice have expressed major concerns over how he handled this one."

He reiterated that Mr McDowell has "breached fundamental principles of the DPP's office and I think basically he should resign".

Mr McGrath said he will raise the issue with the Committee of Procedure and Privileges to find out whether the Minister abused parliamentary privilege or not.

Mr McDowell claimed he was protecting the security of the State when he said Mr Connolly was linked to an IRA plot to provide Farc terrorists in Colombia with bomb-making information in return for cash. Mr McDowell made the comments in a written answer to a Dáil question put by Mr McGrath.

Mr Connolly, who has strenuously denied the allegation, is executive director of the Centre for Public Inquiry (CPI), whose US funder pulled its support last week. Atlantic Philanthropies said it could no longer financially support the controversial watchdog, which has published so far reports on Trim Castle and the Corrib Gas project.

The journalist has denied he ever visited the Latin American country and accused the Minister of joining a witch hunt against him and the CPI.

But Mr McDowell said in a statement yesterday that people who criticised his actions on the issue misunderstood his role as Minister for Justice. He said it was the clear duty of government ministers to act - sometimes pre-emptively - to protect the authority of the state.

He said: "In protecting the state's security and preventing subversion of democracy, which sometimes involves making the public aware of underlying facts and allegations, it would be very wrong of a Minister for Justice to fail to take action or to speak out on the sole basis that the subject matter was incapable or unlikely to be established beyond reasonable doubt in the criminal justice process.

"When there are substantial reasons to believe that a threat to the State's democracy and authority exists, it is the right and duty of a Minister for Justice to act in the interests of the State.

"The rights of a citizen to his or her good name must always be carefully balanced against the public's right to be protected from subversion," Mr McDowell said.

"I, and other members of the Government have spoken clearly about the dangers of subversive activity and, on occasion, about subversive criminality. We have done so because it is vitally important in a democracy that every aspect of public affairs should be open to scrutiny, not just those aspects which are governmental," he said.

"The public should expect nothing less from its government."

But Mr McGrath this morning condemned what he said was "another disgraceful follow-up statement" from the Minister, and added: "There are people within the Cabinet that have major problems with an organisation with great integrity, great honesty, investigating corruption and sleaze in Irish politics".

Asked about Mr Connolly's response to the allegations, Mr McGrath said he has been "very forthcoming" and "will answer other relevant questions in the future".