Border Fox still at large despite fears
Sunday December 24 2006
DESSIE O'Hare, the INLA gunman on temporary release from prison under the Good Friday Agreement, is due to be granted another month of freedom this week despite Garda concerns that he breached the terms of hisrelease.
The so-called "Border Fox", who served 18 years of a 40-year sentence for kidnapping and mutilating Dublin dentist John O'Grady, was released in April on a monthly licence - on condition that he lived at a registered address in Galway and did not consort withcriminals.
However, gardai suspect that O'Hare was an associate of the murdered gangland boss, Martin Hyland.
Special branch detectives are now preparing a report on the INLA man to establish his movements in recent months, where he has been living and the company he has been keeping.
The report will not be completed on time for a monthly review of O'Hare's temporary release licence, however, which is due this week.
O'Hare was to meet with authorities at Castlerea Prison late last week as part of the review process. A prison source said his licence would not be revoked without evidence from gardai to support any suspicions that he had breached the conditions attaching to his release.
O'Hare's association with the murdered crime boss emerged during an Organised Crime Unit investigation into gangland crime. O'Hare's telephone numbers were discovered during a search of Hyland's house. Also, surveillance on the drug dealer suggested that O'Hare was staying periodically at houses in west Dublin thought to be owned by Hyland.
O'Hare also appeared to have changed address without informing prison authorities. Apart from being seen in Dublin, gardai said that he appeared to be spending a lot of time in Monaghan living with relatives.
O'Hare, a former gunman, has, through a spokesman, denied reports that he was a suspect for Hyland's murder. His denials are supported by gardai who say there is no evidence to link him to the shooting. However, sources said he is one of a long list of friends and enemies of Hyland's whom they will speak to, if only to eliminate them from their inquiries.
O'Hare's temporary release licence can be revoked by the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, if evidence is found that he has breached the terms of his release.
If the Garda report finds he has breached his release conditions, O'Hare would be the first prisoner released under the Good Friday Agreement, to have his licence revoked.
So far, none of the 58 prisoners released under the Good Friday Agreement have been returned to jail - even though one former IRA prisoner was arrested by gardai two years ago, during an investigation into robberies in Dublin Port.
O'Hare became the most wanted man in Ireland after kidnapping and mutilating the Dublin dentist, John O'Grady in 1987.
Gardai rescued O'Grady but his captor escaped. He was eventually caught after a shoot-out in Co Kilkenny. He was jailed for 40 years and in 2000 began a legal challenge to force the State to release him under the Good Friday Agreement.
He claimed that he had reformed, taken up yoga and attended the Glencree Centre for Reconciliation in Co Wicklow, under the supervision of prison officers. He was eventually granted temporary release in April, after serving 18 years in jail.
Eddie McGarrigle, who co-ordinated the Free Dessie O'Hare campaign, told the Joe Duffy's Liveline radio show that O'Hare was working with handicapped people and the Brothers of Charity in the west of Ireland, and that he had travelled to Lourdes as an assistant to a group of pilgrims.
The trip, three months ago, was sanctioned by the prison authorities and the Department of Justice.
