In recent years, four posthumous pardons have been granted in relation to convictions which pre-date the foundation of the State – most recently, in October 2024, the 1882 convictions of Sylvester Poff and James Barrett for the murder of Thomas Browne, for which they were executed in 1883.

Article 13 of the Constitution provides that the right to pardon is vested in the president, exercisable only on the advice of the government.

Until 2015, only three presidential pardons had been granted in the history of the State, none of which were granted posthumously and none of which related to pre-1992 offences.

The first posthumous pardon was issued in 2015 in relation to Henry Gleeson, who was executed in 1941 for the murder of Mary McCarthy despite having an alibi.

Since then, four more pardons have been granted, all of which were posthumous and related to pre-1922 convictions.

A statutory scheme governing pardons is contained in the Criminal Procedure Act 1993, but does not apply to posthumous pardons.

Justice, home affairs and migration minister Jim O’Callaghan said: “The Constitution provides the president with the power to issue a pardon, on the advice of the government.

“There is a high evidentiary bar that must be met to recommend the granting of a pardon to the president, and this is reflected in the low number of pardons that have been granted since the foundation of the State.

“In recent years, the nature of applications for consideration of a pardon have changed to focus on historical cases that pre-date independence from British rule.

“These cases present several difficulties, not least of which is that the courts that tried these offences were established under the jurisdiction of the previous British administration in Ireland, and not the Irish State itself.

“The approach I’m proposing to the application for consideration of a pardon will be in line with the current statutory scheme under the Criminal Procedure Act 1993 and will reserve consideration of presidential pardon applications to a miscarriage of justice since the foundation of the State.”

He continued: “The granting of a pardon is one of the most significant powers the president can exercise and allows the State to right a manifest wrong that has occurred in the administration of justice.

“However, presidential pardons under the Constitution should be granted in those circumstances where a miscarriage of justice has occurred under the auspices of the State.

“Remedying historical miscarriages of justice, while admirable and desirable to many, poses significant challenges, including that convictions pre-dating independence in 1922 occurred under a different legal system, in the name of a different government.

“I am of the strong view that the policy approach with respect to the processing of presidential pardon applications needs to be anchored to the foundation of the State when an Irish government came into existence. By doing so it recognises that the Irish State acknowledges that it has responsibility for any miscarriages of justice that have taken place under its authority.”

The government says its new approach to applications for consideration will adhere to the statutory scheme under the 1993 Act.