‘Suspects’ named in act of political cowardice

THE naming by unionist peer Lord Laird, under the protection of parliamentary privilege in the House of Lords, of a number of alleged IRA members who were supposedly present at the killing of Sean Quinn in Co Monaghan is an act of gross irresponsibility and an abuse of the democratic process.

Such blatant disregard for the due process of law is in defiance of political and social acceptability, and such disregard should not be consequence-free. Hiding behind parliamentary privilege in the antediluvian chamber of the House of Lords is the epitome of political cowardice.

Also, it can have fatal consequences.