A convicted child sex abuser is seeking to take a private prosecution against a former minister for justice, Mr John O'Donoghue, alleging he perverted the course of justice in relation to his case.
Vincent McKenna (39), a former human rights activist, was jailed in 2001 for three years for sexually assaulting his daughter from the age of four to 13.
The sentence was later appealed by the Director of Public Prosecutions as too lenient, and the Court of Criminal Appeal doubled the prison term.
Yesterday McKenna asked a judge to issue a summons against Mr O'Donoghue alleging that the minister perverted the course of justice by communicating with the DPP to appeal against the sentence shortly after it was handed down.
Mr McKenna's victim - his daughter, Sorcha, who waived her right to anonymity following the case - met Mr O'Donoghue at that time and later campaigned for longer sentences for paedophiles.
McKenna is also seeking similar summonses, under the Prosecution of Offences Act, 1974, prohibiting certain communications between officers of the State in relation to criminal proceedings, against two lawyers in the case, Mr Peter Charleton SC and Mr Brian McCreery from the DPP's office.
He is further seeking a summons to be issued against an Irish Sun reporter, Myles McEntee, alleging incitement to hatred.
McKenna said he had gone to the High Court to get an order directing the Department of Justice to allow him to make his private prosecution application to the District Court.
He contended it was wrong for the minister to ask the DPP to appeal the leniency of his sentence and all the more so because Mr O'Donoghue is a qualified solicitor.
Judge David Anderson adjourned the case to September 19th.