Ulster Unionist MP Tom Elliott has called on Barra McGrory, the Director of the Public Prosecution Service, to come out publicly and explain exactly what he is doing to address the lack of confidence in the criminal justice system following the collapse of an IRA membership case after key witnesses withdrew their evidence.  

Mr Elliott, who is his Party’s Justice spokesperson, said;

“The collapse of the case against what was described as ‘senior republicans’ accused of IRA membership is yet another blow to the credibility of Barra McGrory’s leadership of the Public Prosecution Service (PPS).

“It is extremely worrying to see comments from one of the witnesses in the case stating that they believed ‘the wrong charges were brought against the wrong defendants’ and that a key independent witness to the alleged offences wasn’t called to give evidence.

“There will also be disquiet at the fact that the witnesses received ‘a stock reply that it didn’t meet the evidential test but we weren’t told how or why that was. There was no proper consultation or feedback.’

“This is no way to treat victims and witnesses and it is patently clear that there is a major problem in the PPS with regard to accountability and transparency.

“This is very bad news indeed for the PPS, coming so soon after Sir Keir Starmer’s report, which found many faults within the PPS, ranging from basic administrative procedures, through to a lack of strategic thinking and direction from the senior management and on to failures in terms of the PPS's communications with Maíria Cahill.

“There is a clear lack of confidence in the PPS under the leadership of Barra McGrory and this latest failure increases the pressure on him to come out and explain exactly what steps he is taking to address this intolerable situation.”