Decision not to prosecute Connolly ‘was made in 2003’
The claim raises fresh questions over the controversial role of Justice Minister Michael McDowell since it flatly contradicts reports that he told the CPI’s backers in a meeting on September 2 that a prosecution against Mr Connolly was still a possibility.
In that meeting with Atlantic Philanthropies chairman Chuck Feeney and senior vice president Colin McCrea in Dublin, Mr McDowell and his department’s secretary general Sean Aylward are reported to have asked for details of false passport allegations against Mr Connolly to be kept confidential since they were not sure if gardaí would try to press charges.
However, in a statement issued yesterday, the CPI board stood wholeheartedly by its director, saying a letter received from the DPP just this Thursday had revealed the decision not to prosecute Mr Connolly was made on March 7, 2003.
Calling the allegations against Mr Connolly “entirely without evidential basis, unsustainable, and totally untrue”, the CPI statement said the board had full confidence in its director.
The strongly worded statement, signed by CPI chairman Justice Fergus Flood, also accused Mr McDowell of possibly undermining the statutory authority and independence of the DPP while Mr McDowell’s actions were described as signalling “a departure from principles of fair dealing and justice”.
The CPI said inquiries into matters of public importance were still continuing while a further statement from its board and Atlantic Philanthropies would be forthcoming.
Speaking in Tullamore yesterday Mr McDowell again defended his actions.
“I stand over every single thing I have done. The difference between me and other people is I say it as I see it. Other people are in no comment mode and instead of asking me questions, I suggest that all these cameras and all these microphones go and present themselves before the people who have questions to answer,” he said.
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