 On 9 October 2005, a "Sunday Times" article alleged that Garland became chief of staff of the largely inactive Official IRA in 1998.On 1 December, the High Court in Belfast issued a warrant for Garland's arrest after he failed to appear for an extradition hearing.On 1 April 2006, Garland was unanimously re-elected as President of The Workers' Party and in a keynote address to the party membership gathered in Dublin he vowed to fight any attempt to extradite him to the United States.