Mick Clifford: Tánaiste makes uncharacteristic lapse with Ian Bailey comments
Through his comments on Ian Bailey, the Tánaiste made an uncharacteristic lapse by engaging in barstool waffle.
Murder suspect Ian Bailey relaxing on the pier in Schull, West Cork, in 2021. Tánaiste Micheál Martin believes Bailey escaped facing justice. File picture: Dan Linehan
Tánaiste Micheál Martin made some astonishing remarks when he was launching a book on Thursday. In effect, he determined that Ian Bailey should have been put on trial for the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier. He also criticised the Irish judicial system for failing to extradite Bailey to France.
In offering such armchair opinions, the most senior politician in the state was advocating that the standard of proof for criminal trials should be lowered considerably and, if convictions are still unobtainable, we should find some other way to deem a suspect guilty.
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