February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Andrew Bushe
DUBLIN — Evidence of dirty tricks surrounding the seminal events of the arms trial scandal 31 years ago have been disclosed in an RTE documentary that revealed the statement of a key witness was tampered with.
In all, there were 16 deletions in the statement of the former head of military intelligence, the late Col. Michael Hefferon. Most appear to be to protect Defense Minister Jim Gibbons and his assertion he did not sanction the importation.
The doctoring of the statement goes to the heart of the long-running controversy surrounding the political convulsions at the time: Was the attempt to run guns to the North done with the knowledge and approval of Jack Lynch’s government?
The events surrounding the arms trial led to the shaping of policy on Northern Ireland and had huge ramifications for politics in the Republic for decades.
Justice Minister John O’Donoghue is to report to the Dail about the disclosures. But pressure is growing for a detailed independent inquiry into the controversy.
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The RTE "Prime Time" program used documents uncovered in National Archive Office files that showed Hefferon’s witness statement had been tampered with. It is not clear by whom. The statement was initialed by the head of the Department of Justice, the late Peter Berry.
O’Donoghue said he believed "more detailed inquiries are necessary" and he told the Dail he would make a further report when he is in a position to do so.
He said security files had been withheld from the Archive Office but none related to the doctored statement. "My present understanding is that my department holds no further records that would shed any light on the substance of the allegations," he said.
At the start of the Northern Troubles, the arms trial convulsed the Fianna Fail government and caused a national sensation. Lynch fired two of his most senior ministers, Charlie Haughey and Neil Blaney, and they were charged with conspiracy to import arms.
Also charged were Belfast republican John Kelly, an army intelligence officer, Capt. James Kelly, and a Dublin-based Belgian businessman, Albert Luykx.
All were subsequently acquitted.
Capt. Kelly reported to Hefferon, who was his senior officer. One of the deletions in the colonel’s statement said: "It is my opinion that Mr. Gibbons knew that Capt. Kelly was involved in assisting the defense committees in the North to procure arms."
Gibbons always denied he had authorized it. His sanction could have made the importation legal.
Despite the tampering with his statement, Hefferon did in fact give evidence in court about the knowledge of the Gibbons. It undermined the state case and Gibbon’s evidence and the acquittals resulted.
The RTE program said Hefferon’s statement was to have been seen by then Justice Minister Desmond O’Malley. The former Progressive Democrats leader said he had no recollection of seeing Hefferon’s original statement.
Subsequent to the RTE disclosures, the Irish Times made a further National Archive discovery that O’Malley had personally directed that a file containing Hefferon’s statement be suppressed in October 1970.
O’Malley directed that privilege should be claimed on the file and its contents in the trial.
"I have formed the view and am of opinion that on grounds of public policy and interest neither Mr. Peter Berry nor any other officer of the Department of Justice should . . . produce in evidence the said file or any document therein, or disclose in evidence the contents of any document contained in the said file."
Sons of both Blaney and Hefferon, Capt. Kelly and James Kelly, who is now a member of the Northern Ireland assembly, are all seeking an inquiry as a result of the revelations. Haughey has made no comment.
O’Malley has said he will read all the archive files and would be happy to cooperate with an inquiry "in depth" that should examine all aspects of the arms trial and the events leading up to it.
He said what happened during the period was complex and to seek to simplify it down to one document and its fate was to "grossly oversimplify a most complicated affair."
In a statement, O’Malley said there was a "most dangerous and volatile situation" in 1970 with the basic institutions under threat and a danger of anarchy and widespread bloodshed.
It was part of his job to defend the state and he was proud of what he did.
"We retain democratic government through the ballot box only.," he said. "Justice is still administered by courts — not through the knee cap in a back alley."