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THE IRISH JOURNALIST


Newsletter of the National Union of Journalists in Ireland Autumn 2018


Standing with journalists Brian McCaffrey and Trevor Birney, and with Gerry Carson, IEC Cathaoirleach, and NUJ members, Séamus Dooley addresses the media at the solidarity gathering at the Courts of Justice in Belfast. Photo: @Kevin Cooper, Photoline


Stop fishing, catch the killers By Séamus Dooley, Irish Secretary


On Friday August 31st, police raided two homes and an office in Belfast. The raids were linked to the sectarian attack on a pub in Loughinisland, Co Down in 1994, in which six civilians were murdered. Two men, Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney,


were arrested and police seized phones, computers and hundreds of files. In normal circumstances such intense activity would have been welcomed as a breakthrough in an unsolved investigation. But the raids were not part of an investigation


into the murders. Rather the police arrested two journalists and removed files from the office of Fine Point Films, makers of “No Stone Unturned”, a documentary that provides evidence of police collusion in the Loughinisland murders.


It was a fishing expedition. The police spent 13 hours searching through every desk and cupboard in the offices. In the High Court, Fine Point Films secured an order that all equipment and documents seized must remain sealed until a further court hearing. Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney are on bail, without charge, until November. It is an outrage that priority should be given to


an investigation into a public interest documentary rather than acting upon the information unearthed. In this issue we report with pride the response


of NUJ members to this latest attack on media freedom. We acknowledge the solidarity of the ICTU, Amnesty International and the families of those murdered, Adrian Rogan, Malcolm Jenkinson, Barney Green, Daniel McCreanor, Patrick O’Hare, and Eamon Byrne.

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