Roy Greenslade stood surety for IRA bomb suspect John Downey it emerged during the failed prosecution of Downey at the Old Bailey in London. Greenslade, the Guardian’s media commentator and a journalism professor at London’s City University, owns a home near Downey’s in Donegal. The Old Bailey was told, according to a report in the Irish Independent, that Greenslade gets his oysters from Downey’s farm.

Lt Anthony Daly, 23, Cpl Roy Bright, 36, L Cpl Jeffrey Young, 19, and Trooper Simon Tipper, also 19, all of the Blues and Royals, died in the blast along with seven of the regiment’s horses. Two hours after the Hyde Park blast, an IRA bomb killed seven Army bandsmen in nearby Regent’s Park.

The case against on-the-run John Downey, 62, collapsed after a senior judge heard the defendant was among the IRA terrorists who had received a “get out of jail free” letter protecting them from prosecution. Greenslade’s illustrious career in journalism includes editing the Mirror and writing for An Phoblacht, Sinn Fein’s pro-IRA propaganda sheet, he is also the Professor of Journalism at City University London.  Greenslade is said to be a close friend of former Sinn Fein vice president Pat Doherty, who was also a member of the IRA Army Council.