Tools key when threat identified - State’s ability to protect us

EUROPEAN courts have been a force for good in this society.

Several benchmark rulings have challenged the insularity and conservatism that has dogged this State since its foundation. Others have vindicated individuals’ rights — the Waterford Crystal pensioners were an example — when official indifference left them exposed.

In recent days, the European Court of Human Rights has intervened in an ongoing case in which the State wants to extradite an unnamed man to a country in the Middle East. The State, through its legal team, has expressed the belief that the man is “the foremost organiser and facilitator of travel by extremists prepared to undertake violent action” on behalf of Islamic State.