SINN Fein, the political organisation, and the Provisional IRA, the still-in-existence terrorist organisation responsible for the murder of around 1,800 people -- and the killing of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe in Limerick in 1996 -- are two sides of the same coin.

Maurice Quinlivan is a Sinn Fein politician from Limerick. Maurice Quinlivan is not his brother's keeper. His brother, Nessan Quinlivan, has been described in court as an "essential cog in the IRA". Neither is Nessan Quinlivan the keeper of his friend. His friend is Pearse McAuley. McAuley has been described as a "psychopathic gun nut". In 1991, McAuley shot his way out of Brixton Prison in London along with his cellmate, Nessan Quinlivan.

McAuley and Nessan Quinlivan were awaiting trial on charges relating to a suspected IRA plot to murder a former brewery company chairman,Charles Tidbury, in 1990. Up to 40,000 people lined the streets of Limerick for the funeral of Jerry McCabe. McAuley was also one of the killers of Detective Garda McCabe -- he and three other terrorists from Limerick.

In his now notorious interview with a journalist from Limerick, the then-Minister for Defence, Willie O'Dea, said this of Fianna Fail: "We have never been involved with anyone who shot anybody, or robbed banks, or kidnapped people." Nessan Quinlivan, a career terrorist -- an "essential cog" in the Provisional IRA -- came to buy an apartment in Limerick, in an area known as Clancy Strand.

Maurice Quinlivan, meanwhile, came to be the standard bearer of Sinn Fein in Limerick. He contested the local election in 2009. In many ways, Maurice Quinlivan was an ideal Sinn Fein candidate. He looked OK in a suit, for example. In January 2009, the gardai raided the apartment at Clancy Strand that was owned by Nessan Quinlivan, the former cellmate and fellow escapee of the psychotic gun nut, Pearse McAuley -- a killer of a detective garda of this State.

When they raided the apartment they came upon three Brazillian women suspected of running a brothel. The three women appeared in court. Each of these unfortunate women received suspended sentences of six months and were told to leave Limerick within three days.

The Provisional IRA called a ceasefire in 1994. It called off its ceasefire in February 1996. Jerry McCabe was killed four months later. The IRA called a new ceasefire in July 1997.

Since then the Provisional IRA has extended its activities into areas other than outright terrorism, areas to do with illegality.

Nessan Quinlivan was not in court in January last year when the tenants of his apartment were convicted of charges relating to prostitution. He was not referred to in court. But he has said that he had no knowledge that his apartment was being used as a brothel. His assertion has never been questioned. Maurice Quinlivan, meanwhile, had the then-Minister for Defence in his sights during the local election campaign last year.

He criticised O'Dea for sending out letters to planning applicants using Department of Defence newspaper. He also criticised the cost of the six civil servants employed to help Mr O'Dea with constituency affairs.

In a late-night interview with a journalist from Limerick, O'Dea responded to that criticism. "While occasionally we send out letters to planning applicants on the wrong paper, we have never been involved with anyone who shot anybody, or robbed banks, or kidnapped people," he said.

He then went a bit too far. "I suppose I'm going a bit too far when I say this, but I'd like to ask Mr Quinlivan is the brothel still closed?" He added: "Do you know the brothel they found in his name and in his brother's name down in Clancy Strand?"

But the brothel was not in the name of Maurice Quinlivan. Nor was it in the name of Nessan Quinlivan. The apartment where the brothel was located was, however, in the name of Nessan Quinlivan. Nessan Quinlivan has said he had no knowledge that the apartment in his name was being used as a brothel. The comments of the then-Minister for Defence were recorded. O'Dea knew they were being recorded. A month to the day after O'Dea made those comments, Maurice Quinlivan issued proceedings against the Minister for Defence. Maurice Quinlivan sought an injunction to restrain O'Dea from repeating a false statement linking him to the brothel which was located in an apartment owned by his brother. O'Dea swore an affidavit for the injunction proceedings.

In that affidavit he said: "I must categorically and emphatically deny that I said . . . that the plaintiff was a part-owner of the said apartment." But O'Dea's sworn affidavit was false. The truth was that he had made such a statement.

Maurice Quinlivan is not his brother's keeper. His brother has said that he had no knowledge that the apartment in his name was being used as a brothel.

In the absence of evidence to the contrary, it must be accepted that Nessan Quinlivan was telling the truth when he made that statement. The former Minister for Defence has said that he did not recollect making a statement linking Maurice Quinlivan to a brothel which was located in an apartment in his brother's name.

Last week, Fine Gael and Labour chose not to accept that O'Dea was telling the truth. Implicitly, of course, they believe Nessan Quinlivan -- as they must -- that he had no knowledge that the apartment in this name was being used as a brothel. Fine Gael and Labour chose not to accept the word of O'Dea even though Maurice Quinlivan, the man O'Dea falsely linked to a brothel in an apartment owned

by his brother, did accept the word of the Minister for Defence.

Part of agreed statement on behalf of O'Dea and Maurice Quinlivan read: "It is not suggested by Mr Quinlivan that Mr O'Dea acted other than innocently in making such a denial" in his affidavit. Leinster House is an entirely different theatre to the High Court. In the High Court evidence must be submitted to prove an allegation.

In Leinster House no such evidence must be relied upon; in Leinster House you can take down the Minister for Defence on the basis of nothing other than a hunch. Fine Gael and Labour had a hunch that O'Dea was not telling the truth when he said that he could not recollect falsely linking Maurice Quinlivan to a brothel located in an apartment in the name of his brother, Nessan Quinlivan -- the "essential cog" of the Provisional IRA -- who has said that he had no knowledge that his apartment was being used as a brothel. In other words, Fine Gael and Labour chose to disbelieve O'Dea.

That, by another name, is the application of selective credulity by the opposition parties. Armed with this, and with ammunition prepared by Sinn Fein, Fine Gael and Labour took out the Minister for Defence last week for reasons to do with nothing other than political expediency. Fine Gael and Labour are trying to replace the Government of Fianna Fail and the Greens.

To do so, a general election needs to be called.

The most likely way an election will be called is if the Greens walk out of the Government.

Last Thursday, shortly after 5.15pm, the leader of the Greens, John Gormley, went to the office of the Taoiseach and effectively threatened to exit the coalition if the Minister for Defence was not sacked. Brian Cowen is weak -- politically -- so be acceded to the Gormley's demand.

The Government, therefore, will not yet fall -- but it has been badly damaged. Gormley then claimed that he had not demanded O'Dea's head; or he claimed that he was not in the business of issuing ultimatums, which is a different thing. All of this is yet more selective credulity. Gormley went to Cowen's office just 24 hours after the party he leads voted to back O'Dea in a confidence motion in the Dail.

In that 24 hours, Gormley claimed, several things had happened which had altered the position of the Greens.

In my opinion, the several things to which Gormley referred are nonsense in terms of they being sufficient, of themselves, to force a change of heart in the Greens.

In my opinion, the only reason Gormley sought and secured the head of O'Dea was an attempt to belatedly restore some sense of authority to the Greens.

Fine Gael, meanwhile, had its own motivation.

The story of O'Dea's false affidavit was in the public domain for more than three months before the opposition took it up and moved against him last week.

Fine Gael led the charge. It only moved to act in the Dail after what was, perhaps, the worst week in the leadership of Enda Kenny -- the week of the resignation of George Lee, the party's poster boy TD in Dublin South; and a resignation which last week was threatening the continued leadership of Kenny.

Fine Gael would deny that was its motivation, but such a denial would be yet more selective credulity; it is so because there is no other plausible explanation for Fine Gael's three-month delay.

For political expediency, then, Fine Gael moved against the Minister for Defence with ammunition supplied by Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Provisional IRA -- the terrorist organisation which murdered Fine Gael senator Billy Fox in March 1974.

There is no other way around this either. In sacrificing the Minister for Defence last week, Fine Gael also finally brought in Sinn Fein from the cold, a dalliance it has been tricking around with for at least a year now.

- Jody Corcoran

Originally published in