Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle and his office for allowing me to raise this issue. None of us can imagine the horror of losing a child or a sibling at a young age, but that happened on 16 August 2009 when Sebastian Creane was murdered in his home by Shane Clancy. One can only imagine the lengths one would go to as a parent or a sibling to get answers to try to understand what led to such an event. The Creane family have been on that journey since that horrific night and have been treated abysmally by the organs of the State.

I will be submitting separate parliamentary questions on the role of the State broadcaster. It is hard to imagine that six weeks after that incident, RTE thought it appropriate to devote a segment on "The Late Late Show" to the murder of Sebastian Creane. Less than six weeks after he died and before the inquest into his death, it thought it was worthwhile to debate the issues surrounding it. It decided to proceed without involving the family even though they would not have been able to do so at that stage. RTE's behaviour was crass and unbelievable. It was a dereliction of its duty to the people as the State broadcaster. Those involved in the decision to broadcast should hang their heads in shame and answer the questions put to them about that programme.

Sebastian Creane was murdered by Shane Clancy who took his own life on the same night, so there are two families grieving. However, the coroner's inquest into the death of Shane Clancy proceeded with very little input from the Creane family who had questions they wanted answered. They put those questions to the coroner and he agreed that their submissions would be respected at Shane Clancy's inquest. It was agreed that there would be input from a representative of the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland. Those agreements are all on record because having been so alienated by the institutions of the State, the Creane family felt the need to record the conversation. At that meeting the coroner said he knew they were there because of RTE, such was his awareness of "The Late Late Show".

However, none of the agreements the coroner entered into was fulfilled at the inquest. The inquest returned a verdict that did not answer the family's questions and they were then forced to go to the High Court at considerable distress on top of the most unimaginable distress already to try to get the answers. So far they have not been able to get those answers. This shows that at a coroner's inquest, there are very few avenues for a family to pursue their questions, an issue we need to address.

Where a coroner has let a family down and has not adhered to his commitment to them, there is no redress for that family. We are all subject to performance reviews as public servants. We go before the electorate. Every other member of the public service is subject to some sort of review. Coroners must be and there must be an avenue for families who feel alienated by an inquest process to get justice and get answers. There should be some recourse available where a coroner has not done his or her job.

This was the most horrific tragedy and unimaginable loss. That loss and sense of betrayal have been exacerbated by the response of the organs of the State, a State that seeks to cherish children and cherish its citizens, but instead forces them to go down a legal route while they grieve over the loss of a son, brother, nephew and friend. Surely we can do better.

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