Mr Devane cannot have it both ways
THE decision by Limerick solicitor John Devane not to make a statement to gardai, after he was assaulted by a member of the Dundon gang in the lobby of the District Court last week has drawn considerable criticism from different quarters.
Kevin Kiely, Mayor of Limerick, told this newspaper last week that Mr Devane would "lose all credibility" if he failed to make a formal statement.
Steve Collins, the father of murder victim Roy Collins, has expresssed his disappointment that Mr Devane has not come forward and given gardai information on who attacked him.
Mr Collins himself, of course, has been monumentally brave in standing up against the gangsters who murdered his son in cold blood earlier this year.
"At the end of the day he lay with these people, he represented these people," Mr Collins has said. He feels John Devane has passed up a "major opportunity to put the record straight and redeem himself", by telling the authorities what happened last Wednesday morning.
Perhaps even more damningly, the president of the Limerick Bar Association, Elizabeth Walsh, said this week that the failure of an officer of the court to come forward over such a serious matter is "quiet incredible and very much to be regretted ...a very sinister development".
That Mr Devane finds himself in this regrettable situation cannot be regarded as a surprise. He admits that he has been dubbed "the drama queen of the District Court", but rejects the tag, regarding himself instead as a solicitor who will "stand up for people when the system won't".
He sees himself as "the mouthpiece for the downtrodden in our society". Of course, he has also been the legal representative for gangland members who have nothing but contempt for the lawand the society they live in.
True, in a democracy somebody has to be, but Mr Devane has developed a successful practice and become a highly public figure as a result. Furthermore, there is persuasive evidence - the book, the general election campaign, the offer to act as a mediator in the gangland
war - that he enjoys the ensuing attention.
It is fair to say that Mr Devane is unpopular with the majority of Limerick solicitors. He told the Leader this week that he had not received a single statement of solidarity from within the legal profession, following his assault.
In contrast, he says the general public have sent him "hundreds of texts" offering support.
He refuses to identify his assailant because, he says, he fears for his own safety and that of his family were he to do so. Such a fear is entirely understandable, for as Mr Devane knows very well indeed, these are the worst kind of criminals this city has ever known.
But Mr Devane cannot have it both ways. Nobody should condemn him for putting the safety of his family first, but there is something seriously wrong if an officer of the court declines to assist the gardai in upholding the law.
Mr Devane has admitted sending a text message to a criminal client, the subsequently murdered Noel Campion, informing him that another of his clients was remaining quiet while in custody. He defended his action, but for those who have long expressed unease about Mr Devane's relationships with some of his clients it was a notorious episode.
It was always likely that Mr Devane would eventually find himself in this uncomfortable position. He has sailed too close to the wind and if he will not make a statement to gardai, he should consider his future as a defence solicitor in Limerick, or at the very least take a long, hard look at his list of clients and start drawing a line through those with any involvement whatsoever in gangland activity.
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