Colombia Three - Return could have grave consequences
There are implications, indeed, but not for the agreement. Unless those whose political interests would be fuelled by inventing motives are entertained, then it should be pursued properly on a legal basis.
It could only have reverberations for the peace process, and then extremely grave consequences, should the Government be shown to have compromised its integrity.
That is highly unlikely a prospect, especially in relation to the incredibly delicate and complex artifices which comprise the intricacies of the painfully slow Northern political progress.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was very adamant that their presence back in the South did not materialise from the recent IRA statement that their war was over.
There was no deal done to bring the men back surreptitiously as Mr Ahern has asserted. The Government did not do a deal to ease the return of the three men acquitted of training FARC rebels in Colombia, a decision which was subsequently reversed after an appeal.
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams was equally unequivocal and one of the men, Jim Monaghan, denied that they had been given assurances on foot of the IRA decision.
Importantly, the British Government has also denied their return was part of a deal, although it would respond positively to a request for extradition if the men were found in the British jurisdiction.
In denying prior knowledge of their return, Mr Ahern said the event was unhelpful. Inevitably, there were those among unionists who were quick to hijack it for their own narrow and damaging motives.
With wearisome predictability, the reaction from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) was unsurprising, but it was untenable, and insulting, of deputy leader Peter Robinson to practically describe the Taoiseach as a “terrorist collaborator”.
DUP leader Ian Paisley has vowed that devolution for the North is at least two years away, despite the fact that he realises the two governments want movement in the political process next January.
Mr Paisley, a bitter opponent of the Good Friday Agreement from the outset, is pursuing his own agenda, the aim of which is to postpone power-sharing with republicans for as long as he can.
In his assumed role as arbiter of what he considers best for the North, he has deemed it his mission to use what he terms his “veto” until he was sure all IRA activity and criminality had ended.
The arrival of the trio has presented him with an occasion of temptation he could not resist with which to further muddy the waters for the peace process.
But there are serious implications which cannot be allowed escape scrutiny, not least of which is the fact that the three men were able to return to this country without the knowledge of the gardaí.
Tánaiste Mary Harney adverted to this issue, especially as they had been travelling on fraudulent passports. The Taoiseach, quite correctly, said that any question of extraditing the three men to Colombia would be dealt with by the courts here.
The fact that no extradition treaty exists between the two countries will influence that outcome, but that is the main implication raised by their secret return.
