McDowell move hits independent watchdog

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell has helped torpedo an independent watchdog set up to scrutinise the activities of politicians and big business.

Atlantic Philanthropies yesterday announced it would no longer fund the Centre for Public Inquiry (CPI), which was established in February to investigate “matters of public importance in Irish political, public and corporate life”.

The decision by the Atlantic board came after a meeting between its founder, Irish-American billionaire Chuck Feeney, and Mr McDowell several weeks ago.

At the meeting, according to a spokeswoman for the minister, Mr McDowell gave Mr Feeney the “plain, unvarnished truth” about the executive director of the CPI, Frank Connolly.

Mr Connolly is alleged to have travelled to Colombia on a false passport with his brother, Niall, and Padraig Wilson, a senior IRA member, in April 2001.

In August that year, Niall Connolly was arrested together with James Monaghan and Martin McAuley - the so-called ‘Colombia Three’ - by the authorities in Bogota.

In a written answer to a Dáil question on Tuesday, Mr McDowell said garda authorities were “fully satisfied” that Frank Connolly was among the three involved in the first trip.

“It clearly strains credulity to suggest that the two visits were unconnected,” Mr McDowell said. “On the basis of intelligence reports furnished to me, the visits appear to have been connected with an arrangement whereby the Provisional IRA furnished know-how in the use of explosives.”

It is understood this information was related to Mr Feeney when he met with the minister. The result of that meeting was made clear in a brief statement issued by Mr Feeney’s organisation yesterday.

“At its scheduled meeting (on Tuesday) and after several weeks of discussion with the CPI, the board of the Atlantic Philanthropies decided to cease funding CPI.”

Atlantic had pledged to provide e4 million over five years to assist the CPI’s work. However, the future of the CPI - which is chaired by former High Court judge Mr Justice Feargus Flood - is now in doubt. A spokesman for the CPI last night said it was considering Atlantic’s decision.

Earlier in the day, Mr Connolly had again denied the allegations against him, insisting he had never been to Colombia.

He accused Mr McDowell of participating in a witch-hunt against the CPI, which has issued two reports to date.

Mr Connolly also claimed the minister had abused his office by releasing confidential information from garda files to Mr Feeney, and by seeking to interfere with due process.

“The minister has purported to usurp the functions of An Garda Síochána and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and seeks to destroy my reputation by publicly making charges of a criminal nature against me,” Mr Connolly said.

But Mr McDowell’s spokeswoman denied this.