Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 21 February 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement

Impact of Brexit on the Good Friday Agreement: Discussion (Resumed)

Ms Michelle Gildernew:

It is welcome that the Tánaiste mentioned Aidan McEnaspie. He is correct that he was murdered 31 years ago today, on a lovely sunny February afternoon while on his way to a Gaelic match. I am a member of the same club, Aghaloo O'Neills Gaelic Football Club, and my brothers and many club members participated in the investigation the Government commissioned into Aidan's murder. This week we learned that the PSNI had withheld vital information on loyalist murders in the North. This has rocked confidence among nationalists and republicans. The Tánaiste said the PSNI had discovered significant new material. It did not discover it. It has covered it up. It has been covering up, redacting and destroying evidence for as long as I can remember.

Roseanne Mallon was murdered 25 years ago and the inquest into her death was recently concluded. It was a sham because the coroner did not take into consideration the fact that evidence had been destroyed and, therefore, was not available. People are very frustrated at the cover-up and lack of evidence. People were murdered in cold blood in the North of Ireland and the British are doing their best to ensure we will never get to the truth. What role will the Irish Government play in holding the PSNI, the Judiciary and others to account on these matters? Aidan McEnaspie's mother, Lizzie, and his sister, Eilish, who was a tireless campaigner, have both died. They fought all of their lives for the Crowley report. Will the McEnaspie family finally be given the Crowley report to give them closure on Aidan's death?

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