along with fellow escapee Gerry Kelly, and subsequently extradited to Northern Ireland, and released on parole from the Maze in 1997. By 1993 he had become the longest serving prisoner in the Maze. Kidnapping charges In 1998, McFarlane was first charged in the Republic of Ireland with Tidey's kidnapping, but he challenged this on the basis that Gardaí had lost a number of exhibits containing fingerprints – the central evidence in the case. The Irish Supreme Court ruled in March 2006 that the trial could proceed. The Gardaí based the Tidey charges on items recovered from the kidnap site, including a milk carton and a plastic container, on which fingerprints were discovered. Although the items went missing from Garda headquarters during renovation work, the fingerprints had been photographed and a forensic analysis done. McFarlane was due to stand trial on 3 October 2006. However his legal team launched a second judicial review in May 2006, on the grounds that McFarlane could not get a fair trial due to "systematic delays in bringing the prosecution". This held up his trial until the Irish High Court ruled on the issue on 8 December 2006. However, McFarlane's representatives appealed this decision in turn. Their appeal was finally dismissed on 6 March 2008, and the trial opened in Dublin on 11 June 2008 only to collapse on 26 June when the Garda evidence was ruled inadmissible. In September 2010, McFarlane was awarded compensation following a European Court of Human Rights ruling. The court found the proceedings relating to the kidnapping of supermarket executive Don Tidey had been "unreasonably long". The Irish government was ordered to pay 5,400 euro in damages within three months and 10,000 euro in legal costs. Other activity In August 2004, Gerry Adams suggested that the IRA might disband to prevent its existence being used as an excuse to delay a power-sharing agreement which would include republicans. An IRA delegation including McFarlane then met with the Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade to discuss Adams' remarks in an attempt to avoid a rift between the groups. He is now a member of Coiste na n-Iarchimí ("the Ex-Prisoners' Committee"), a welfare organisation for republican ex-prisoners. Sinn Féin describes him as a voluntary worker, and he has been a vocal supporter of the party's political stance, appearing beside both Gerry Adams and Gerry Kelly at rallies and reiterating former prisoners' support for the direction