Tony Taylor is a community activist and former Provisional IRA inmate from Northern Ireland who was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 1994 after he was seriously injured in a premature explosion in Derry. He was released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.[1] In 2011 Taylor was arrested for possession of a rifle [2] and released in 2014.[3] Taylor was arrested two years later[4] on the street in Derry, Northern Ireland on 10 March 2016 while on a shopping trip with his wife and children[5] and was held for more than 2 years and 8 months in Maghaberry Prison near Lisburn in County Antrim.

Calls for Tony Taylor's release came from members of Derry City and Strabane District Council,[6] Mayor of Derry, Maolíosa McHugh,[7] Northern Ireland MP Elisha McCallion,[8] and Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Coveney.[9] Taylor's case was also raised in the Irish Senate,[10] the European Parliament[11] and the Commissioner for Human Rights.[12] The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) said that Tony Taylor's license was revoked by the Parole Commission because he posed a risk to the public, but his legal team were excluded from hearing evidence against him, which was heard in a closed session.[13]

On 28 November 2018, Taylor was freed after 993 days of imprisonment.[14][15]

References

  1. ↑ "Good Friday Agreement Committee to seek meeting with Secretary of State to discuss Maghaberry Prison and Tony Taylor - Derry Now".
  2. ↑ "Two Londonderry men accused of having rifle". BBC News. 5 August 2011.
  3. ↑ "Parade marking internment without trial peaceful after block from city centre". Belfasttelegraph – via www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk.
  4. ↑ "Leading republican Tony Taylor returned to prison after licence revoked". The Irish News. 12 March 2016.
  5. ↑ "'Tony Taylor was arrested on a shopping trip with his family based on MI5 assessment'". 25 January 2017.
  6. ↑ McKinney, Seamus (June 2018). "Secretary of State refuses to meet council over Tony Taylor case". The Irish News.
  7. ↑ "Councillor calls for mayor to resign following unionist anger at Tony Taylor visit - Derry Now".
  8. ↑ "Elisha McCallion raises Tony Taylor case at Downing Street". 15 June 2017.
  9. ↑ "Coveney staff criticised over visits to republican in Northern Ireland prison". Belfasttelegraph – via www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk.
  10. ↑ "Case of Derry republican Tony Taylor is raised in the Irish Senate - Derry Now".
  11. ↑ "ANDERSON RAISES TONY TAYLOR INCARCERATION AT STRASBOURG". 13 September 2017.
  12. ↑ "1704261530E". assembly.coe.int.
  13. ↑ "BREAKING: Derry republican Tony Taylor denied release from prison | Derry Now". 12 June 2018. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018.
  14. ↑ Young, Connla (28 November 2018). "Derry republican Tony Taylor to be released today after almost 1,000 days behind bars". The Irish News.
  15. ↑ "Republican Taylor released from prison". BBC News. 29 November 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
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