SINN Féin has watered-down its policy to abolish the Special Criminal Court and now says the non-jury court should instead be put under review.

Party leader Mary Lou McDonald said the court was "not unproblematic" but said it would put its existence under review, rather than outright abolish it, if in government.

This represents a shift from Sinn Féin's policy during the 2016 general election when it committed to repeal the Offences Against the State Acts, which gives legislative underpinning to the court, in its manifesto.

The party has consistently voted against the renewal of the Act in the Dáil over recent years.

"We accept that we have to have mechanisms that work to keep the community safe. So Special Criminal Courts aren't unproblematic, they are. I want us to see a review of that," Ms McDonald said on a campaign stop in Bray, Co Wicklow on Friday.

"The principal issue here is about keeping people safe, and we have special criminal courts, and still these people are at large.

Sinn Féin’s shift in policy comes in the wake of growing concerns about serious violent crime in this general election campaign. Ms McDonald accepted there needs to be "special provisions" for violent crimes and gangs. She said the review would have to involve the judiciary, law enforcement agencies and the Department of Justice.

Asked if Sinn Féin would retain the court if the review recommended this, she said: "We will accept, not alone abide by, we will champion any and every measure that has the ability to keep communities safe and put these thugs and gangsters behind bars. That's our position. I am not going to play a game on this issue. It's a very, very important issue.

"It's not just about the Special Criminal course itself, although the judicial process is, of course, a matter of concern for people. The bigger concern is that these people are on the streets and lots of folks believe that there isn't a real capacity to take them off the streets, and to keep our citizens safe."

Earlier, Fianna Fáil justice spokesman Jim O'Callaghan highlighted opposition to the existence of the Special Criminal Court as one of the reasons the party would not go into government with Sinn Féin.

"Sinn Féin don’t even support the existence of the Special Criminal Court. Each year in Dáil Éireann we have a vote on the Offences Against the State Act and extending the powers to keep the Special Criminal Court going. They don’t vote in favour of it,” Mr O’Callaghan said.

"They’re ambiguous about it and if you’re serious about confronting gangland crime the one thing you must be 100pc supportive of is the continued existence of the Special Criminal Court, because these are people who have murdered journalists.

“We saw recently they’ve murdered a child. They will murder anyone who gets in their way and that would include jurors. And we should not be asking jurors to deal with these types of cases when their lives could be put under threat.”

Online Editors