FROM OUR HUMAN RIGHTS DESK

IRELAND’S DECISION TO take the United Kingdom to the European Court of Human Rights over the latter’s proposal to bring in legislation granting immunity to its forces for their actions in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, may cause Dublin’s politicians during the conflict a little embarrassment, and perhaps worse, according to a leading criminal lawyer.

Redmond Burke SC, who specializes in celebrity bail applications and guilty pleas in large fraud cases, told the Kookaburra Bugle that periods of close co-operation between the sundry regimes in Dublin over the thirty years may come back to haunt certain individuals.

“It’s amazing how ground shifts and people who considered themselves saintly in one era may find themselves damned in another,” he said. “I’m thinking of the Vichy regime in France, of course. Right up to 1943, and even as far as 1944, it was America’s preferred friend. And de Gaulle was the pariah. Roosevelt couldn’t stand him. But Churchill saw L’Homme Du Destin. Destiny is so much more powerful than mere law. I should know. I represent celebrities.

“Anyway, trials of British troops up to no good in Northern Ireland during the Troubles might lead to dark corners which those who co-operated with London may not wish exposed. Possible accessory charges, perhaps. Not likely but possible. In my book possible is always too dangerous. Remember what happened to the Vichy regime. I wonder is the Irish Army trained for firing squads.”