‘Kangaroo court’ accused refuse Kenny invitation

The four people that Maíria Cahill accused of subjecting her to a "kangaroo court" over her claims that she was raped by a IRA member have refused to meet Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

Solicitor for the four people, Peter Madden, advised his clients against a meeting because of what he branded the Taoiseach’s “highly prejudicial” remarks on the case.

The Belfast-based lawyer sent Mr Kenny a letter accusing him of giving inaccurate briefings and ignoring ongoing legal processes.

Mr Madden represents four people who were accused of membership of the IRA as a result of Ms Cahill’s allegations, but all charges against them were dropped after prosecutors offered no evidence.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams invited Mr Kenny to meet people accused by Ms Cahill during angry Dáil exchanges last week.

The issue has been the subject of contention between the two sides since then, with Mr Kenny insisting that he would only meet the people named in the BBC documentary which brought the Cahill case to light, while Mr Adams has accused the Taoiseach of attempting to “manipulate” the situation for political gain. Ms Cahill said she was forced to confront her rapist during the “kangaroo court” situation.

Mr Kenny’s agreement to meet the people Ms Cahill accused had drawn criticism from Fine Gael TD Billy Timmins. The Wicklow TD said such a meeting would see Mr Kenny bring the office of Taoiseach into “disrepute”.

“If the Taoiseach meets the victim of gun crime in Dublin, does he the have a meeting with the gunmen responsible? How many other kangaroo courts were there? Will the Taoiseach meet the people involved in them?” said Mr Timmins.

Ms Cahill, 33, whose great uncle Joe Cahill was a founder of the Provisional IRA, accused an alleged IRA member of raping her in Belfast in 1997 and claims the movement helped cover up the abuse.

An independent review has been launched into three prosecution cases linked to Ms Cahill’s allegations, to be headed by human rights lawyer Keir Starmer, a former director of public prosecutions for England and Wales.

Mr Adams has written to the Taoiseach, saying that those who tried to “help” Ms Cahill, “like myself” still wanted to meet Mr Kenny.

“As An Taoiseach knows well, my request for a meeting was not confined to the individuals accused in connection with an alleged IRA investigation, but consisted of those Sinn Féin members, including myself, who spoke to and sought to help Maíria Cahill,” said Mr Adams. “It is reprehensible he would spin this publicly in the way he has done. This reinforces my view that he is playing politics with this issue.”