Alan Shatter says Sinn Fein not fit to govern

Sinn Féin has been accused of being “unfit for government” after Gerry Adams controversially claimed the Special Criminal Court has breached Thomas ‘Slab’ Murphy’s human rights and should be scrapped.

Ex-justice minister Alan Shatter hit out at Sinn Féin after its party leader broke his silence on the issue to heavily criticise Ireland’s judicial system over its treatment of the well-known border area republican.

Last week, 66-year-old Mr Murphy of Ballybinaby, Hackballscross, Co Louth, was convicted of tax evasion between 1996 and 2004 by the non-jury Special Criminal Court — a verdict that could see him jailed for five years when he is sentenced on February 12. He was initially charged in 2008 before taking an unsuccessful Supreme Court challenge against the Director of Public Prosecutions’ decision to hear the case in the Special Criminal Court to prevent risk to would-be jurors.