Elaine Loughlin: Fate of special court would be parting gift to SF in power

Members of the Garda Armed Support Unit outside the Special Criminal Court in Dublin.

If Sinn Féin wins the next election, one of its first tasks will be to make the Special Criminal Court a permanent fixture — this from a party that opposed the court for years.

The juryless court was established as an emergency measure to deal with what was a significant and very real threat from terrorist organisations to the State, but more than four decades on what was initially used as a temporary response remains in place.