The treatment of Winkie Irvine and Kneecap member is a living metaphor for our puzzling criminal justice system

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/comment/the-treatment-of-winkie-irvine-and-kneecap-member-is-a-living-metaphor-for-our-puzzling-criminal-justice-system/a911745494.html

The contrasting treatment within 24 hours of Winkie Irvine and Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh is a living, breathing metaphor for everything that is wrong with our criminal justice system.

Suzanne Breen

It’s hard to get your head around.

A judge considers there is no terror connection after a leading loyalist is found with guns and ammunition in his car, and UVF paraphernalia in his home.

A republican rapper is charged with a terrorism offence for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig.
It sounds like an April 1 hoax, but it’s reality in this part of the world.

The contrasting treatment within 24 hours of Winkie Irvine and Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh is a living, breathing metaphor for everything that is wrong with our criminal justice system.

Ó hAnnaidh, or Mo Chara as most know him, has been charged under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act. He’s pleading not guilty. Just 13 people have been arrested under this section in Northern Ireland in almost a quarter of a century.

Hezbollah is a banned terrorist organisation in the UK, but let’s put the charges Ó hAnnaidh faces in context.
He is alleged to have displayed the flag of a group based in Lebanon while singing on stage in London. In Northern Ireland, we know all too well that emblems can be offensive and intimidating, but they can’t kill.

Winkie Irvine wasn’t displaying a UVF flag when police stopped him on the Shankill in 2022. He had two revolvers, an airgun replica of a Heckler and Koch submachinegun, several magazines, 9mm ammunition and assorted blank cartridges in the boot of his car.

The weapons were — very aptly — inside a leather Calvin Klein holdall. There’s no need for a cut-price approach when you’re flush with cash from ‘community work’. This was designer terrorism, although officially we can’t call it that because the court rejected the T-word.

Mo Chara is charged with displaying a Hezbollah flag “in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he is a supporter of a proscribed organisation”.

But wee Winkie with his boot-load of deadly weapons is, according to Belfast Crown Court, a peacemaker.
He avoided a statutory five-year sentence on several of the charges he faced after Judge Gordon Kerr KC ruled that there were “exceptional circumstances” in his case — Irvine’s “work for peace and charity work in the community”.

Kerr found “no evidence of a direct terrorist connection” regarding the “low-grade” items that police had seized.
So, could someone please explain exactly what Irvine was doing with guns and ammunition? He provided no explanation himself to police or in court. Irvine should have received a significant custodial sentence instead of 15 months in jail.

Let’s remember that it is over three decades since the Combined Loyalist Military Command declared a ceasefire. There is no legitimate reason why the UVF should exist, let alone why one of its leaders should be driving about with gear in his car.

Irvine has friends in high places. My Belfast Telegraph colleague Sam McBride has written about the names of those who provided references for him. David Campbell of the Loyalist Communities Council was hardly a surprise revelation.

However, other referees included ex-Policing Board vice-chair Debbie Watters, Queen’s law professor Kieran McEvoy, former Church of Ireland Primate Alan Harper, ex-Methodist President the Rev Harold Good, and former chief of staff to the Archbishop of Canterbury David Porter.

For decades, Irvine rubbed shoulders with British and Irish government ministers, NIO officials and senior police in his handsomely paid ‘community worker’ role. There’s not been a cheep out of any of them since his conviction.

The hysteria from the authorities since Kneecap’s “F**k Israel, free Palestine” Coachella performance speaks volumes.
If you were looking at the establishment response to the cases of Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh and Winkie Irvine, you’d never guess who had allegedly held up a flag and who had been transporting guns.

If you think Kneecap’s apology was gaslighting, wait until you learn what the UK Government continues to spend your taxes on.

Lyra’s proud legacy
It’s six years since my beloved friend Lyra McKee was shot dead by the New IRA in Derry.

There have been many commemorative events since, but the one I know she would be most chuffed about is the hanging of her photo in The Reporter Bar in Belfast’s Union Street. Her pic joined those of other gifted writers on display.

It was a lovely event organised by the National Union of Journalists, and attended by Lyra’s family and friends. I missed it due to a bad back, but I’m hoping to pop in and raise a glass as I look up at her soon.

Some in journalism were nasty and unkind to Lyra during her all too short career. She’d be as proud as punch that she’s on that wall despite them. The shame is that she never lived to see her success celebrated.

Rooms for hope
It’s brilliant news that Belfast City Council is considering buying the Assembly Rooms.

The building was placed on a list of at-risk global heritage sites. Given its historical and cultural significance, it is well worth saving.