
The Colombia Three are three individuals – Niall Connolly, James Monaghan and Martin McCauley – who are currently living in the
Republic of Ireland, having fled from
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
, where they had been sentenced to prison terms of seventeen years in 2003 on terrorism charges for training
FARC rebels. The incident came during a crucial time in the
Northern Ireland peace process and risked damaging it. The three were granted amnesty by a Colombian special court in April 2020. On December 16, 2022, the
Special Jurisdiction for Peace
The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (in Spanish: Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz, JEP), also known as Special Justice for Peace (in Spanish: La Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz), is the Colombian transitional justice mechanism through which F ...
revoked the amnesty citing that the trio had not fully divulged the truth about their trip to Colombia in 2001.
Arrest
The three came to prominence on 11 August 2001, when they were arrested travelling on false passports at
Bogotá International Airport while waiting to transfer to international flights out of the country. The Colombian authorities alleged at the time that they were training
FARC rebels and were members of the
Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). According to General
Fernando Tapias Stahelin, the Colombian authorities were tipped off by "an international security organisation".
Two of the three men, Monaghan and McCauley, had arrived in
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
on 30 June 2001 on a flight from
Belfast, via Paris. Niall Connolly had flown from
Dublin, via
Madrid, and spent a day in
Caracas
Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...
before making a rendezvous in
Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...
. The three men then spent the next five weeks travelling through a demilitarised southern zone of Colombia, then under the control of the FARC rebels as part of peace talks with the Colombian government.
They were arrested as soon as they touched down in Bogotá on a commercial flight on the Saturday night.
Prosecution and verdict
After the men's arrest at Bogota airport, they were only charged with travelling on false passports, until 15 February 2002, when they were also charged with training FARC rebels in bomb-making. After a number of delays, including a boycott of proceedings by the three accused, the trial opened on 2 December 2002. Following a number of adjournments, the trial closed on 1 August 2003. The trial judge returned a verdict which found the three men guilty of travelling on false passports and they were given varying sentences of up to 44 months. They were found not guilty on the more serious charges relating to training FARC rebels; however, the judge ordered their release upon payment of fines equivalent to £3,800.
Appeal
In accordance with Colombian law, the prosecution had the right to appeal the verdict, which it did. While awaiting appeal, the three men were free to leave jail, but were instructed by a judge to remain within the country. The appeal court overturned the original trial verdict, and convicted the men of training the rebels, sentencing them to seventeen years in jail on 16 December 2004.
Return to Ireland
The day after their conviction, the
Colombian Attorney General
The Office of the Attorney General of Colombia ( es, Fiscalía General de la Nación; literally "General Prosecutorial Office of the Nation") is the Colombian institution part of the Colombian judicial branch of Government with administrative au ...
announced that the men had fled Colombia. On 5 August 2005, following an interview with Monaghan by
RTÉ
(RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...
's
Charlie Bird
Charles Bird (born 9 September 1949)In his semi-autobiography ''This Is Charlie Bird'', he states he has two birth certificates, one saying he was born 4 September 1949, the other 9 September 1949. He chooses to celebrate his birthday on 9 Sept ...
, it emerged that the three men had clandestinely returned to Ireland. The three men were subsequently questioned by
Gardaí, but no moves have been taken in relation to extraditing them to Colombia, despite the existence of a Colombian
arrest warrant
An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by a judge or magistrate on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual, or the search and seizure of an individual's property.
Canada
Arrest warrants are issued by a j ...
, since no extradition treaty or agreement exists between Colombia and Ireland.
Amnesty
The trio were granted
amnesty and were cleared of all charges by a Colombian special court on 23 April 2020. The three men had remained at large in Ireland for the duration of their sentence. A Colombian judge, member of Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), said that there was no evidence supporting that "the three had been part of a terrorist group. Moreover, it is clear that none of the crimes for which they were convicted at the time had any victims. For this reason…a full amnesty will be issued."
The Colombia Three
James Monaghan

James William Monaghan was born on 9 August 1945, and is originally from
County Donegal but his last known address was in
Newry,
County Down
County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...
.
In the 1970s he was believed to have been active in the IRA, gaining the nickname 'Mortar' on account of his skill in manufacturing
homemade mortars and, according to security sources, he was head of the IRA's engineering section.
Monaghan was arrested on terrorist charges in County Donegal in the 1970s.
In 1972 he was arrested in London and given a prison sentence for terrorism offences.
In 1976, he escaped from the
Special Criminal Court in Dublin following a double bomb blast.
He was elected to the
Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle in 1989. According to
Alex Maskey, he left Sinn Féin in 1989 or 1990, In 1999 he joined an organisation called
Coiste na n-Iarchimí, a Republican ex-prisoners group.
He was reported to have been a member of the
IRA Army Council.
Martin McCauley
Martin McCauley was born on 1 December 1962 in
County Armagh.
He was shot aged 19 in 1982 by the
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Royal ...
(RUC) in a barn near
Lurgan resulting from which he won a five-figure sum for damages against the RUC. He was unarmed at the time and another teenager was killed. In 1985 he was charged with weapons possession in
Northern Ireland and received a two-year
suspended sentence
A suspended sentence is a sentence on conviction for a criminal offence, the serving of which the court orders to be deferred in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation. If the defendant does not break the law during that ...
.
He was a Sinn Féin election worker during assembly elections in the
Upper Bann constituency in 1998, but according to Sinn Féin he was not a member of the party.
McCauley is regarded as a leading figure in the IRA's engineering section.
Niall Connolly
Niall Connolly was born on 5 December 1964
in
Glenageary,
County Dublin, and was educated at
Newpark Comprehensive School and
Trinity College Dublin.
The only one of the three who was a fluent
Spanish speaker, he has extensive experience in Latin America, having worked there for a number of years.
Prior to his arrest, he was resident in
Cuba, where the Cuban authorities claimed he was the Latin America representative for Sinn Féin.
This was initially denied by Sinn Féin, but they later accepted that he had been working in Cuba as a part-time party representative. His brother is the journalist Frank Connolly, who was accused under
Dáil privilege by Justice Minister
Michael McDowell of travelling to Colombia using a false passport with Niall.
Connolly says McDowell is on a 'witch hunt'
by Paul Anderson, Irish Times, 7 December 2005.
References
{{Colombia conflict
2001 in international relations
2000s trials
Colombia–Ireland relations
FARC
Fugitives wanted by Colombia
Irish republicans imprisoned on charges of terrorism
Provisional Irish Republican Army members
Quantified groups of defendants
Republicans imprisoned during the Northern Ireland conflict
Sinn Féin politicians
Trials in Colombia