The Celtic League has once again urged the Irish government to facilitate the transfer of Noel Maguire from an English jail to a prison in Ireland.

In correspondence to the Justice Minister the Celtic League General Secretary, Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, says that Noel Maguire "fulfils all the necessary conditions for a prison transfer from...and his case is all the more urgent given his physical and mental circumstances and precarious safety predicament." (see below):

"Minister Dermot Ahern Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform 94 Saint Stephen's Green Dublin 2, Ireland Email: info [at] ...

Dear Minister Dermot Ahern

Transfer of Noel Maguire to Portlaoise Prison, Ireland

I am writing to you in order to make the request that Noel Maguire is transferred to the above prison from his current location at Whitemoor Prison, England.

I am aware that you have previously stated to the League and others that "It is the long standing practice of this Department not to comment on the cases of individual prisoners", as can be seen for instance in your letter to me, dated 30th July 2007. However, as our Director of Information, Bernard Moffatt pointed out to Eithne M. O'Donnell at the Minister's Office Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform last October:

"The Celtic League have made representations over many years in respect of individual cases and (various) Departments of the Irish government have had no difficulty with this.

Obviously no serious NGO would expect a government Department to discuss sensitive individual data in relation to a detainee. However I think your response to our General Secretary [Rhisiart Tal-e-bot] is projected more at protecting Minister Lenihans sensitivities rather than ensuring confidentiality for the prisoner in question.

In any case any decision to raise a specific case such as the one in question is because there are general concerns over the failure by State parties to adhere to principles set out in respect of the treatment of all prisoners by the Council of Europe."

We are aware that Mr Maguire currently has an application for repatriation to Portlaoise Prison outstanding, which is, I believe, his fifth application to date. We are also aware that that Mr Maguire's applications have been rejected in the past for not having "sufficient family support" in the RoI and that his links to the country are not strong enough.

However, we have been informed that Mr Maguire's only family live at Carlow, including his wife (from whom he is legally separated) and his two children (aged 14 and 11 years), with whom he keeps regular contact. Moreover, Mr Maguire's wife has stated that should he be transferred to Portlaoise Prison, she will visit him there with their two children. In addition to this, other relatives of Mr Maguire (two sisters and an uncle) who live in County Kildare, have also stated that they would visit Mr Maguire should he be transferred. Mr Maguire does not have any relatives living in England.

We have also been informed that Mr Maguire is a holder of a current Republic of Ireland (RoI) passport and is therefore a citizen of the RoI. Under European and Irish legislation therefore (1983 'Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons' and the 'Transfer of Sentenced Persons Act, 1995'), Mr Maguire fulfils all the requirements for a transfer to the RoI.

Moreover, paragraph 6.3d of the 'Transfer of Sentenced Persons Act, 1995' draws attention to the "age or physical or mental condition of the sentenced person". Mr Maguire's physical and mental well-being has indeed been adversely affected as a result of a knife attack on him by two fellow in-mates while in Full Sutton Prison in 2007. As a convicted activist of the Real IRA and (apparently) the last and only person in a British jail to be in this category, Mr Maguire's safety is untenable to say the least, as was shown by the murderous attack he was subjected to last year. In this situation, it is our opinion, that Mr Maguire should have been transferred to the RoI as a matter of urgency.

On a different note, support for Mr Maguire's cause has grown considerably over the last 12 months, especially now that further details of his repatriation application and campaign have become more available to the public, through demonstrations and the internet. As you may be interested to know, a new website has been created that provides information about the Noel Maguire campaign for repatriation and can be found at www.noel-maguire.info. A petition has also been set up calling for Mr Maguire's repatriation and at the time of writing has collected over 600 signatures and next month the whole of the evening session on KUNM fm radio in New Mexico, USA will be dedicated to Mr Maguire's cause.

As you will know from correspondence to your department Mr Maguire has strong support for his transfer application to the RoI from across the world. As mentioned above, he fulfils all the necessary conditions for a prison transfer from Whitemoor Prison to Portlaoise Prison and his case is all the more urgent given his physical and mental circumstances and precarious safety predicament. On behalf of the Celtic League and in consideration of the strength of his case, I would like to urge you to agree to Mr Maguire's present application for transfer at the soonest possible date.

Yours sincerely

Rhisiart Tal-e-bot General Secretary

CC Minister Micheál Martin, Department of Foreign Affairs"

Website link:

www.noel-maguire.info

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J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League 17/09/08

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