“People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones”
Geoffrey Chaucer 1385, in his epic poem Troilus and Criseyde (Book II) wrote: “Who that hath an hed of verre, Fro cast of stones war hym in the werre!”,
(Translated: “He who has a head of glass should beware of hostile stones.”)
The phrase warns against hypocrisy.
Sinn Féin justice spokesperson Mr Matt Carthy says violent offenders should “serve the custodial sentence that they were given.”
He raised questions after Ms Alison Chawke was released under supervision, after serving only four weeks of an effective 12-month sentence for a serious assault.
Ms Chawke had received an effective 12-month custodial sentence. She had served approximately four weeks, before entering the Community Return Scheme.
She remains strictly supervised by the Probation Service and must perform unpaid work; the scheme is formally restricted to prisoners assessed as posing no threat to the community.
But where was this absolute principle when Sinn Féin supported the accelerated release of republican prisoners under the Good Friday Agreement?
A total of 428 republican and Loyalist paramilitary prisoners received early release, including 143 serving life sentences. Among the first 248 released, official figures show that 78 had been convicted of murder.
Sinn Féin strongly supported the Agreement and its prisoner-release provisions.
The Good Friday Agreement was an exceptional peace settlement, endorsed by voters, and its releases cannot simply be equated with an ordinary criminal-justice decision. Nevertheless, Mr Carthy cannot credibly declare that all violent offenders must serve their full custodial sentences without acknowledging the major exception his very own political party supported.
He is entitled to question Ms Chawke’s release, the risk assessment and the effect of prison overcrowding.
But consistency matters.
If early release can be justified for people convicted of murder to advance peace, Sinn Féin should explain why supervised release can never be justified for rehabilitation or prison management today.
Otherwise, its position looks less like a consistent principle and more like political hypocrisy.
Crazy stuff George as usual from Sinn Fein but no surprise. Hardy to take any of their outrage seriously. It is disgraceful though that she was released after a couple of weeks. We’ve an absolute farce of a justice system if that’s what a custodial sentence amounts to in 2026. ‘No danger to the community’ is a spoofer’s category of sentence. Herself and her brother behaved like absolute animals in the Dunraven Arms and it was a great opportunity to show that the law is eqalitarian in its application to all classes. There was the same opportunity to do that with Kyle Hayes but he even walked free and his brothers are out already out after 13 months after their vicious attack on an innocent friend. Must be very encouraging now for Alison Chawke’s brother as well. Not an utterance of remorse from Charlie Chawke either. Would be nice to see him donating to something worthwhile as an act of family atonement. Meanwhile they were painting the cell for Daniel Kinahan and moving a library and a gym up to his special wing. There was even six bottles of water ready for him after his long dehydrating flight from Dubai. Christ almighty George, you’d want to scream. Country riddled with drugs as well and not one single confidential number to ring being advertised anywhere. I actually wouldn’t despise Daniel Kinahan. He’s just a sociopath and nature made him that way but it is all the young folk and middle class people buying cocaine in Ireland whoe are the real scum. They are beyond contempt and a real disgrace to humanity. They drive the whole industry and all the death that goes with it, and they smugly applaud when Daniel Kinahan is flown home and locked up in Portlaoise. It’s a joke!