Tony Gregory (Dublin Central, Independent)

Instead, every call for an inquiry made in the House during the last five years was rejected.

In February 2002, the then Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy O'Donoghue, when asked if he would have all documentation relating to the Dean Lyons's case released to establish if there was sufficient evidence to warrant a public inquiry into the case, replied: "I do not consider that [there is evidence to] ... warrant any further investigation[.]" This was two years after The Irish Times documented in specific detail what must have been a serious concern that a further investigation was warranted. Why was this covered up for those years? There must be an inquiry into who formulated ministerial replies on this case and why they were so formulated.

As late as November 2004, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, grudgingly replied to a parliamentary question of mine asking for him to consider re-examining the case under the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004. In it he stated: "I am not [at present] satisfied that a commission of investigation is warranted ... The Garda investigation into the murders is [still] ongoing". What an insult to the families of Dean Lyons and Sylvia Shiels who continued to plead for an inquiry. It prompted Stella Nolan, sister of Sylvia Shiels, to state the Garda investigation was ongoing in only one direction: nowhere. Will the Minister explain why he prevaricated for so long?

What prompted the Minister several months later to change his line? In a reply he stated:

In view of the understandable grounds for concern re the late Mr. Dean Lyons . . .I have decided in principle to refer the Garda papers in the case to outside counsel with a view to examining how Mr. Lyons came to make the confession[.]

Many people had been asking the same question for five years. The Minister has not adequately explained what made him decide to take action, belatedly but still welcome, on this case. Was it because of the possibility of a challenge under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights on the failure of the State in its obligations to undertake adequate investigation into the Grangegorman murders? Will the Minister inform the House if this is the case?

Characteristically, the Minister has a curious way of making up lost ground. Over recent months, for every positive step in the direction of establishing this commission, the Minister leaked the details to the press, no doubt to ingratiate himself with his pals in the media rather than answer tabled parliamentary questions. Either way, this commission of investigation is still only a halfway house to the full truth. The solicitor representing Stella Nolan points to the many worrying aspects of the Grangegorman case. It is most important that any inquiry into the case be held in public so that the greatest degree of scrutiny of all issues is guaranteed. However, this will not now happen.

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