Immaculately dressed in a dark tailored suit, white shirt and red tie, Taylor looked bored during the 30 minutes it took to read out the charges against him. He told Judge Richard Lussick from Samoa that he didn't recognise the jurisdiction of the court.

When asked if he pleaded guilty or not guilty to the 11 charges he replied: "I could not and did not commit these acts against the sister Republic of Sierra Leone. I am most definitely not guilty."

Charles Taylor has already filed a declaration of means stating that he hasn't enough money to pay a defence team. It was the only moment that raised a laugh in the gallery during the 54minute hearing.

Taylor has said that he fears for his life and cited the recent death of Slobodan Milosevic in custody. His defence lawyer said that if the trial were moved to the Hague it would deny Taylor access to his family and the moral support he needs. Taylor wants to be tried in Sierra Leone because he believes visas would not be issued to witnesses to testify in the Hague.

An application by the president of the Special Court, Justice Raja Fernando, was made to the Dutch government and the president of the International Criminal Court to facilitate the trial of Taylor. A United Nations Security Council Resolution would be required by the Dutch government to provide the legal basis for the Special Court of Sierra Leone to sit within its jurisdiction.

There are fears that if Taylor is tried in Sierra Leone he will upset the peace and fragile stability in the area.

The civil war in Sierra Leone lasted more than 10 years, from 1991 to 2002. Sierra Leone is rich in diamonds and the term 'blood diamonds' came from the sale of illicit gems to fund conflict and prolong the civil war.

It was a particularly brutal war, with heinous crimes committed against the people. "Long sleeve, short sleeve?" rebels would ask their victims before hacking off their arms. The disarming of tens of thousands of rebels was one of the biggest achievements of the 17,000 UN peacekeeping troops brought in after the war.

The 70,000 former combatants who were disarmed and rehabilitated now swell the ranks of young people who are unemployed today. Combatants and victims live side by side in an uneasy peace With a life expectancy of only 39 years for men and 42 years for women, Sierra Leone is ranked as the second poorest country in the world, followed by Niger, which is facing a food crisis.

After the war, President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah called on the international community to assist in rebuilding Sierra Leone. One of the root causes of the war was weak governance, which has yet to be addressed.

Many towns have no water and rising fuel prices and fuel shortages means that running generators for electricity is not an option.

In the mining town of Koidu there are no telephone landlines and the internet and access to information does not exist.

Sierra Leone's civil war came to an end in 2002. To this day, the country is struggling to deal with extensive human rights abuses and a culture of acute poverty, infrastructure destruction, thousands of internally displaced people and tremendous trauma. They face a huge battle to build societies that are reconciled and at peace with themselves.

Last year, Trocaire spent over 75,000 in Sierra Leone, providing funding for over 15 projects addressing health, education, human rights and livelihood issues.

Trocaire is involved in projects including the reconstruction of medical facilities damaged during the civil war, education and peace programmes for young people traumatised by war and advocacy programmes on economic justice and fair trade.

With a population of 5.3 million, Sierra Leone and Ireland are similar in size. A recent visit of minister of state Conor Lenihan saw the Irish contribution in aid to Sierra Leone rise to 14m over the next two years.