Cahill urges SF to clarify issues over accused’s defence

Rape victim Mairia Cahill has urged Sinn Féin to clarify whether four people linked to the party were prepared to defend her attacker if the charges went to trial, after the issue was flagged in an independent review of the case.

The Belfast woman put the question to the party last night despite officials claiming the revelation is “not an issue for Sinn Féin”, and amid attempts to distance the party from what its president, Gerry Adams, has argued is a family matter.

Last Friday, Northern Ireland’s director of public prosecutions published the long-awaited Keir Starmer report into how its judicial system handled accusations by Ms Cahill and two others against Martin Morris, who was identified in the report and previously named in the Dáil as a senior provisional IRA member. The report said the victims were let down by the system after complaints they made in 2010 failed to result in any trials by 2014, leading to all three withdrawing their evidence.