Press Release: Historian Barry Keane granted Appeal hearing in long running British spies case against Home Office.
- Round 5 of Historian Barry Keane’s long running case against the British state’s refusal to release a 106 year old file identifying ‘Paid informants in Irish Secret Societies’ in Ireland and the United States is set for hearing in London on Thursday 29th September 2016. The UK Upper Tier Tribunal has agreed to hear an appeal against a split decision by a three person First Tier Tribunal to keep the file secret.
- However, as it was a split decision and the minority judgement, which completely dismissed the Home Office arguments, was so different from the majority that Justice Angus Hamilton accepted that the case needed to be appealed. Judge Hamilton, who had chaired the original panel, also noted the strong split between the majority and the minority in the case. He also expressed surprise that Keane had not followed the minority verdict in the ruling which stated that the majority decision ‘lacked common sense’.
- Keane had appealed on a point of law-that in rejecting the appeal the First tier tribunal had set an impossible requirement instead of a balanced one between his rights as a historian and the State’s rights to protect its sources of information.
- Leave to appeal was granted by Judge Angus Hamilton in September 2015 and the Upper Tier agreed to hold a hearing of the case in recent weeks.
- It is likely that both sides will appeal to the British High Court if the case goes against them.
- Keane will be represented by Mr. Brian Leahy and Mr. Cathal Malone at the hearing and it will take place at 7, Rolls Buildings, Fetter Lane, London (Enquiries: 020 7947 7501) commencing at 10 am on Thursday 29 September 2016 and expected to last for one day.
Barry Keane is a Cork History and Geography teacher and author of a number of history books. The most recent was ‘Massacre in West Cork’ published by Mercier Press in 2014 and he currently is collating information on all victims of the War of Independence and Civil War with a view to publication next year. He is also spokesman for the Mardyke residents in their action against the ESB over the 2009 Lee Floods which was appealed last year and is awaiting hearing in the Irish Supreme Court.
Jude,
This is really interesting – quite an extraordinary case. Can’t see where the State’s legal interest lies – unless some obligation to the informants’ families.
Sammy, I would agree on your point of maintaining some obligation to ‘tout;s; families being the probable rational behind such decision however there is also the point that, were they to set a legal precedent that, at some stage in the future, names might be publicised, where does this end?
If a legal precedent were set, permitting some limitation on the time a secret document can be maintained, could some nasty journalist seek, successfully, discovery of documents showing how committed to ‘national socialism’ was their, one time, king?
Such would then lead to another Constitutional crisis.