Belfast lawyer Pádraig Ó Muirigh sends claims on behalf of dozens of ex-internees from Derry in wake of Supreme Court ruling

Belfast solicitor Pádraig Ó Muirigh this week sent letters of claim to the Crown Solicitor’s Office on their behalf.

Mr. Ó Muirigh helped secure a landmark ruling by the UK Supreme Court this month that decided Gerry Adams had been unlawfully detained in the mid 1970s because his interim custody order (ICO) had not been considered by the then Secretary of State William Whitelaw.

He said the ruling could have far-reaching implications for the 1,900 people interned without trial in the north in the 1970s.

“We’ve been looking at these internment cases for a number of years.

“Obviously the Adams judgement is significant and potentially very wide-ranging. We’ve been inundated with internees since then,” said Mr. Ó Muirigh.

The solicitor suggested the ruling opened up a whole series of questions about how the internment regime was administered. Yesterday letters were sent out on behalf of hundreds of clients across the north. Many of these concerned ex-prisoners from Derry.

“What we have to do now is liaise with the Crown Solicitor’s Office.

“We are sending hundreds of letters and putting the onus of proof on them, to prove that the detention of our clients was lawful. We are seeking a resposne within 21 days.

“Dozens of those cases are from Derry,” he said.