Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
PAT HICKEY COULD be released from custody as early as today after THG Sports director Kevin Mallon was allowed to leave Bangu prison in Rio over the weekend.
However, the former President of the Olympic Council of Ireland will be stuck in Rio for some considerable time.
Hickey has been held at Bangu prison in Rio since his arrest as part of an investigation into alleged ticket touting at the Olympics on 8 August.
Anne Marie James is acting as solicitor and counsellor to the Hickey family and she told The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk that, ”It would be very difficult for Brazilian authorities to hold [Hickey] when they released Kevin Mallon.”
Mallon was released on bail over the weekend but he must abide by strict conditions, including an 8pm curfew. He reportedly shared a cell with the former OCI President.
The solicitor with Kirwan McKeown James solicitors described how police in Rio “can say what they want over the airwaves without charging him”, while Hickey is left “languishing in this prison as a 71-year-old man with a medical condition”.
James added that his family haven’t had any communication with him whatsoever but they have now been told that they can write to him.
The family get more information from the media than they do from anywhere else.
She said Hickey sent a message through his lawyers pleading with his wife to return to Ireland after he was arrested.
James said the family may return to Rio if Hickey gets bail, but added there is a concern that they too could be arrested, ”The concern is, are they going to be arrested?”
Public attitude
The solicitor to the Hickey family said Pat Hickey’s case has been badly handled.
This could be any of us. We could be in the wrong place at the wrong time and you’re picked up … and putting it in perspective, this is a ticket touting allegation, that’s all it is. It isn’t murder.
When questioned about families and relatives of Irish Olympians not being able to get tickets at the Olympic Games, James said, “I don’t know about that, I can’t comment on that. It’s not within my knowledge.”
Advertisement
Discussing the impact the case has had on Hickey’s family, she said:
They are a very private family and they have had cars outside their houses. They are terrified about being chased down the street with small children.
James gave an example of a family member leaving a shopping centre because of photographs of Hickey on newspapers:
On one occasion, one of them had to leave a shopping centre with her children in hand because they walked straight bang into pictures of their grandfather on the paper. That is just unacceptable.
“Where is this level of hatred coming from? Part of it, I think, is Ireland has been rocked by so much controversy and we’ve all suffered so dreadfully coming through the recession.
“Now we have a lot of terrorism going on, people are afraid to travel. … that’s the only thing I can … most of the public don’t know this man.
He has a particular way of doing things and obviously that has rubbed people up the wrong way.
“At this stage anybody is scared to say anything good about Mr Hickey in case they get caught up in it.”
Yui Mok
Yui Mok
Treatment
Discussing Hickey’s treatment in Brazil, James said, “There is a presumption of innocence in the constitution in Brazil, I believe that the police there have completely ignored that.
I think the photographs of a 71-year-old man in a state of undress, I think the recording of the arrest – I don’t know if that’s quite normal procedure. I think that was an attempt to utterly degrade him.
She added that the photographing of his passport is a huge security breach.
When it was put to her that the passport being taken was “an identification process for the media” and it was “routine”, she said she wasn’t objecting to it being taken but it being photographed and exposed to media was “outrageous”.
James also added that, “The dawn raid at 6am was just a publicity stunt” adding ” it’s not acceptable.”
When asked about Hickey being told to put Shane Ross “back in his box” via e-mail, James said, “I don’t act for Pat Hickey … I act for a very distressed family whose father is in prison in a very stressed situation.”
He’s exposed to mosquitos, he’s exposed to malaria, he’s exposed to the Zika virus. He has asked for mosquito repellant.
She called for the Minister to step in and help in the case. “Who else is going to stand up for citizens abroad only their own government?” James added that they are hoping to meet with the Minister on Wednesday.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
National Parks manager says there was a ‘sinister element’ to Co Mayo fires
1 hr ago
3.6k
4
spinal surgery scandal
‘Damning litany of failure’: Calls for investigation of governance at Children’s Health Ireland
2 mins ago
5
beaufort
Boy killed after being struck by tractor in Co Kerry this evening
17 hrs ago
37.3k
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 164 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 111 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 146 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 116 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 85 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 85 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 39 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 35 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 136 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 61 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 76 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 84 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 37 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 47 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 27 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 93 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 100 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 73 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 55 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 91 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 69 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say