O'Farrell and Others v Governor of Portlaoise Prison, [2016] IESC 37, [2016] 3 IR 619 is a reported Irish Supreme Court decision. The Court, split four-three dismissed an appeal from the State over the release of three dissident prisoners (political prisoners). According to Section 9 of the Transfer of Sentenced Persons Act 1995, the Court ruled that it did not have the right to increase the prison sentences of three people who had been sent from England to Ireland to finish their sentences. This case is important as it showed a flaw in the way the Irish prison system carried out prison sentences handed down by courts in other countries. This led to the early release of a number of prisoners. Background After a failed attempt to get the Iraqi Secret Service to help the Real Irish Republican Army, the appellant and two others were found guilty of plotting to commit a number of terrorist crimes. The accused went to Slovakia thinking that they would meet with Iraqi arms dealers to talk about buying weapons and explosives. It turned out that the meeting was actually a 'sting operation' set up by members of the British Secret Service. The people who were accused were caught and sent back to the UK, where they pleaded guilty in Woolwich Crown Court. They were given a sentence of 30 years in prison, which started when they were caught in 2001. In July 2015, the Court of Appeal of England and Wales reduced their sentences to 28 years. In August 2005, the appellant and the co-accused(s) asked for a transfer under the Transfer of Sentenced Persons Act 1995 so that they could finish their sentences in Ireland. The State had to do what was required by the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons. This Act made sure that happened. This is a mostly humanitarian measure that is meant to help prisoners who are serving jail time in a foreign country get back on their feet by letting them finish their sentences in their own country. A person from the Department of Justice wrote to the prisoners and told them that if they took advantage of the transfer, they would have to stay in jail longer. This was because the way sentences are handed down in the two countries are different. At the time, the Criminal Justice Act said that prisoners with