asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement regarding the plight of the Birmingham Six, the Guildford Four, Judith Ward and the Maguire Family.
Written Answers. - Irish Prisoners in Britain.
53.
The Government share the concern that exists about a number of cases in Britain in the seventies in which there is evidence to suggest that there may have been a miscarriage of justice.
The appeals in the Birmingham Six case are due to begin on 2 November next. In the circumstances, it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.
As regards the Guildford Four, the British Home Secretary, in response to my representations and the representations of others, has ordered a police inquiry into new evidence which has come to light. I understand from the Home Secretary that he will decide in the light of this police investigation whether to refer the matter to the Court of Appeal.
The position as regards the Maguire family case is that the Home Secretary is still of the view that no new matter has arisen to justify referral of the case to the Court of Appeal.
While the case of Miss Ward is being kept under continuing review, the Government have not to date made any specific representation in this matter.
The Government have consistently supported the demands of those convicted in the Birmingham, Guildford and Maguire cases for a review of their convictions. As I have said, the Birmingham case is pending before the Court of Appeal and it would not be appropriate at this stage to comment further. As regards the Guildford convictions, I have strongly urged the Home Secretary to refer the case to the Appeal Court. Likewise, in the Maguire case, I have conveyed the view to the Home Secretary that, notwithstanding that no new evidence has come to light, the concern and misgivings expressed by, among others, the Government are such that the interests of justice require that these convictions also be reviewed.