REACTION:BRENDAN McFARLANE sat impassively in the dock of the Special Criminal Court yesterday as his trial for the kidnapping of supermarket executive Don Tidey collapsed.
Nor did he react as Mr Justice Paul Butler described the 23-day ordeal suffered by Mr Tidey, who was not in court, at the hands of his IRA captors as “horrendous”.
Even after a quarter of a century, the judge said, the evidence given over the course of the trial by Mr Tidey and the families of Garda Gary Sheehan and Pte Patrick Kelly, who were killed during the shootout that led to Mr Tidey’s release, showed they had been “greatly affected”.
“The court acknowledges that,” Mr Justice Butler said before dismissing the Maze prison escapee.
“Well done, pet,” a woman said to him as he gathered his possessions in the court lobby.
Mr McFarlane, accompanied by Sinn Féin Louth TD Arthur Morgan, then walked slowly through the grey drizzle to face the huddle of damp reporters gathered behind barriers at the corner of Green Street and Little Britain Street.
He said wanted to put the trial behind him and get on with his life. He and his family had suffered since his arrest in Dundalk in 1998 as he travelled on a bus from Dublin to Belfast.
“Firstly, I’m very, very relieved that this has been brought to an end. It’s been a long 10 years and it’s been an extremely difficult period for myself and my family,” Mr McFarlane said.
He was “very, very grateful” to the excellent legal team that “worked arduously” over the previous decade to secure his release.
“What I want to do now is put this behind me and move on, go back home and get on with life with my family.”
When asked if he had anything to say to either Mr Tidey or the Kelly and Sheehan families, Mr McFarlane declined to comment.
“I think I’ve said enough,” he said, before brushing aside questions about the alleged discovery of his fingerprints on a milk carton and other items at the IRA hideout where Mr Tidey had been held.
With that, he turned and walked away in the rain to go home and get on with his life.
