TD has ‘no regrets’ over brush with law
Sinn Féin’s Matt Carthy at centre of adviser role row was previously found guilty of public order offences
THE Sinn Féin TD at the centre of the political row about people with criminal records being appointed government advisers was previously found guilty of public order offences.
Cavan-Monaghan TD Matt Carthy sparked controversy this week when he suggested people released from jail under the Good Friday Agreement could become appointees if his party is elected to government. And Mr Carthy was also unrepentant when asked about his own brush with the law when he was a member of Young Sinn Féin in 1998. That year, in the early hours of November 14, Mr Carthy and three Young Sinn Féin members – including fellow TD Pearse Doherty – were arrested by gardaí and charged with public order offences after an incident at a taxi rank on Dublin’s O’Connell Street.
When asked about the incident this weekend, Mr Carthy told the Irish Mail on Sunday, ‘It is better in life to look forward rather than regret the things that happened in the past. It was a peculiar incident that I won’t go into now because it was at a time when there was a bit of friction between Ógra Shinn Féin and the gardaí’.
He continued: ‘The Probation Act was applied so we don’t actually have convictions. We were young. It was extensively reported in the media at the time and the people have made their judgement on subsequent occasions when we’ve gone before the electorate.’ When the case came before the courts in July 1999, the then 21-year-old denied charges of obstruction, breaching the peace and failing to move on. The other three Young Sinn Féin members also denied all charges. Instead, they and Mr Carthy claimed they had been targeted by gardaí because they were members of Sinn Féin. They also accused gardaí of beating them.
During the court hearing, evidence was given that Mr Doherty, who was 21 at the time and living at Waverly Avenue in Fairview, Dublin, called a garda investigating a nearby traffic accident an abusive name. When the garda demanded his name and address, the 21-yearold Donegal man refused to provide these details, the court heard. The court was told that, when the officer tried to arrest Mr Doherty, his companion Matt Carthy intervened along with two others, Lyn Gallagher, 18, Clogher Road Crumlin, and Francis Costigan, 19, Bushfield Grove, Clondalkin. All four were found guilty but Judge Gerard Haughton dismissed all charges under the Probation Act so none of them would have a criminal record. Judge Haughton ‘totally rejected’ claims gardaí had targeted the four because they were involved in Sinn Féin adding, ‘If that was the case there would have been little point in any garda asking them to leave the area – they would have been arrested on the spot’.
When asked this week if Sinn Féin would lift a ban against those with convictions from serving in government, Mr Carthy said, ‘These are people who were released under the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. Most of them are probably reaching pension age now but I wouldn’t support what is a discriminatory proposal that would suggest that, because somebody is a former political prisoner, they can’t play an important role in the political discourse of this island’.
Minister Simon Harris described his comments as ‘astonishing’.