Child abuse case: SF ‘failed to call’ on IRA man to surrender

The Belfast suspect, now 68, was reportedly a senior IRA figure in the south who allegedly sexually abused a girl four times in the early 1990s.

He has been missing for some two years after skipping bail just before his trial in 2017. The story only came to light last week.

In Saturday’s paper Sinn Fein remained silent after Mairia Cahill pressed it to call on the suspect to give himself up. She had previously also accused an IRA man of raping her when she was a minor.

On Sunday night Sinn Fein finally spoke out on the latest suspect. “These are very serious offences and must be dealt with by the courts and the criminal justice system,” it told the Belfast Telegraph. “If anyone has any information they should bring that forward to An Garda Siochana.”

But Ms Cahill noted the party had still not called on the suspect to give himself up. “It’s taken SF four days to respond to press queries - in a matter of someone who stands accused of sexual assault of a minor,” she said. “That really isn’t good enough.”

On Sunday Irish Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan told her he had called the Garda Commissioner to convey unhappiness with the case and order an urgent review, she said. Welcoming the news, she said it is now for the commissioner to address “a lack of public confidence” in the case.