LAST UPDATE | 9 Aug
THE STATE HAS lodged an appeal against a High Court judgment that ruled against its effort to stymie a case taken by a Senator in regard to an alleged ‘secret arrangement’ allowing the British Military to intercept aircraft in Irish airspace.
Senator Gerard Craughwell had brought proceedings before the High Court over the alleged deal between Ireland and Great Britain allowing the Royal Air Force to fly into Irish airspace and “intercept” any aircraft that pose a threat.
Ireland does not have an indigenous fast jet response capability in the Irish Air Corps.
He claimed that any such arrangement is unlawful and unconstitutional, unless it has been approved by the Irish people in a referendum. International agreements must be put to the people in a vote following a ruling in Crotty v An Taoiseach.
That case’s ruling established the law that any change to the European Union treaty with Ireland would require a vote of the people.
In its notice of appeal the State said it was appealing the entirety of the judgment and laid out 14 grounds setting out how they claim that Mr Justice Brian Cregan erred in his ruling.
The State is represented by the Chief State Solicitor’s Office with solicitor Peter Clifford responsible for the case. Craughwell is represented by Richard Bowman of Bowman McCabe Solicitors.
The alleged agreement, which he claims has never been put before the Dail, was introduced following the 11 September attacks in New York in 2001.
The Government and the State, which have not confirmed or denied the existence of the alleged agreement, opposed Craughwell’s action and deny acting improperly or unconstitutionally.
Craughwell was represented by Eoin O’Connor BL and Senior Counsel Gerard Humphreys, during the hearing in the High Court.
The judgment is centred around the State’s application to have a preliminary issue of law determined before a full trial. The Government side argued that the case could not be heard by a court of law, because in legal terms that the case is “not justiciable”.
The State also argued that the Irish courts cannot review matters of external security. The pleadings from the Government side argued that this fell only within the scope of the Government’s powers and was not for the court to review.
The State had previously told the court that a denial or confirmation of an arrangement like the supposed RAF deal could endanger national security and its international relations.
If the State was successful in the preliminary hearing, Craughwell’s action would have ended.
A Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson confirmed the appeal had been lodged.
“On 6 August the State filed a Notice of Appeal in respect of the judgment of the High Court, which concerned a pre-trial motion on the question of justiciability.
“This case raises important issues concerning national security and the external relations of the State.
“The Government’s consistent approach is that we do not comment on national security but policies are conducted with full respect for the Constitution, Irish sovereign decision-making authority and for Ireland’s policy of military neutrality.
“As the case is ongoing, however, it would not be appropriate to comment further,” the spokesperson said.
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