Eamon O Cuív defends prison visit to Jonathan Dowdall
Eamon O Cuiv has been visiting Republican prisoners since 1994 but "does not deal with gangland criminals". File photo: Gareth Chaney/Collins
Fianna Fáil TD Eamon O Cuív has defended his prison visit to convicted criminal and former Sinn Féin councillor Jonathan Dowdall.
The Galway West TD visited Mr Dowdall when he was in the Republican wing of Portlaoise Prison for his part in an attack on a man who he waterboarded, today's Irish Daily Star reported. Mr Dowdall was last week sentenced to four years in prison for facilitating the murder of David Byrne in Dublin having turned State's witness.
Speaking to on Galway Bay FM on Tuesday, Mr O Cuív said that he has been visiting Republican prisoners since 1994 but "does not deal with gangland criminals".
“I've never visited them, and I have no connection with them but I'm sure other people are doing great work with them.
"The work I do is mainly concentrated on the Republican movement and Republican prisoners and I've been doing that work openly for years and I think there has been very good practical results from that work and one that in my view has saved a lot of lives,” he said.
In June 2017, Jonathan Dowdall was sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment and his father Patrick Dowdall eight years' imprisonment by the Special Criminal Court for physically and mentally torturing a man they both suspected of trying to defraud them.
They had both pleaded guilty at the non-jury Special Criminal Court to falsely imprisoning Alexander Hurley and threatening to kill him at Jonathan's family home on January 15, 2015.
However, the Dowdalls successfully appealed their sentences before the Court of Appeal in April 2018 and Jonathan Dowdall was resentenced to 10 years' imprisonment with the final 25 months suspended and Patrick Dowdall to seven with the final three years suspended.
Mr O Cuív said that he had been asked to visit Mr Dowdall on E-Wing in the prison in preparation for his release.
“As far as I know, the prison authorities had been preparing him for release and remember prisoners are normally released, there are very few prisoners that won't get released.
"And what you work towards is making sure they don't get involved in criminal activity again and lead useful lives, and education is a big part of that."
A spokesman for Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he was informed that Mr O Cuív was not aware of Mr Dowdall’s link to the Regency Hotel killing when the visit took place.
The spokesman said Dowdall was on a republican wing of the prison at the time.
When asked did the Taoiseach approve of the visit, the spokesman said it was a matter for Mr O Cuív who had 30 years of working with prisioners.
A spokesman for Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said such a visit was not the kid of the thing Fine Gael ministers were likely to do.
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