John Downey is due to find out today if he’s going to be surrendered to authorities in Northern Ireland.
The alleged IRA bomber, who is originally from Saint Joseph’s Terrace in Kilrush, is wanted there to face charges in relation to the murders of two British soldiers who died in the Enniskillen bombing in 1972.
Two soldiers from the Ulster Defence Regiment died when an IRA car bomb blew up in Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh in 1972.
Ten years later, another IRA bomb claimed the lives of four soldiers in London’s Hyde Park.
John Downey stood trial in the Old Bailey for the latter but it collapsed when he produced a letter of immunity from Tony Blair’s Government; issued as part of the Good Friday Agreement to suspected IRA members wanted for crimes committed in the UK during the Troubles.
In November, Mr. Downey was arrested at his home in Donegal on foot of a EAW issued by authorities in Northern Ireland who are pursuing charges against him in relation to the Enniskillen murders.
The barrister for the State argued the letter doesn’t become an amnesty just because he thinks it does and he questioned whether his concerns over the abuse of process and admissibility of certain evidence were relevant to these proceedings.
A judgement is expected later today.
