McDowell controversy - Establishing a dangerous precedent

THE controversy surrounding Justice Minister Michael McDowell’s allegation that Frank Connolly visited Colombia on a false passport has been given a new and significant perspective by pointed criticism of the minister from a former High Court judge.

Notwithstanding the minister’s scornful dismissal of such criticism in his latest Dáil statement, the assertion by retired judge Feargus Flood that “the citizens of this country are innocent until they are proven guilty, in accordance with the rules of law” is the crux of this affair.

Hailed for his forthright tribunal report on bribery and corruption in political and business circles, the ex-judge currently chairs the Centre for Public Inquiry (CPI) headed by Connolly.