Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I begin by extending my deepest sympathy and continuing solidarity to the family of Aidan McAnespie. I wish to remember especially his late sister Eilish McCabe who died earlier this year. She never gave up her struggle for truth and justice. Go ndéana Dia trócaire orthu beirt.

Aidan McAnespie was shot dead as he walked from Aughnacloy in County Tyrone to a football match at Aghaloo Gaelic Football Club on Sunday afternoon, 21 February 1988. He had to pass through the permanent British army checkpoint at Aughnacloy, which, on that date, was occupied by the Grenadier Guards Regiment of the British army. Aidan was shot in the back after he had passed through the checkpoint. The weapon used was a general purpose machine gun fired from the sangar of the checkpoint. Aidan lay dead on the roadside.

The British soldier who fired the shot, Guardsman David Holden, claimed his finger slipped on the trigger of the gun. In a report published in June of this year the historical inquiries team of the PSNI has found this to be the least likely explanation of what happened. Effectively, it has given the lie to the British soldier's account. Nobody was ever charged with Aidan's murder.

Two decades have passed since Aidan was murdered at the age of 24. I personally remember the terrible day when we heard the news that this young man had been gunned down in Aughnacloy and the pall of gloom that descended over communities along the Border. We were shocked but not surprised that the British army had finally carried out the threat that it and its cohorts in the RUC had so frequently made to Aidan. The story of Aidan's death is not just the story of what happened on that Sunday afternoon, 21 February 1988. It is a story of unrelenting harassment by the British army, the RUC and, very often also, the Garda Síochána, which had been going on since 1981, when Aidan was 17.

What was Aidan's crime in the eyes of the British crown forces? He was a young worker who had to cross the British-imposed Border twice every day to travel to and return from his work at Monaghan Poultry Products. He was an honest, friendly and popular young man. He loved Gaelic games. He endured their harassment, stood up for his rights and protested against their conduct. He was Irish and he simply wanted to live his own life in his own country. That was his crime and for that his life was taken away.

I assisted Aidan and his family in their efforts to highlight his plight and to raise with the authorities in his State and with the Catholic church, including the late Cardinal Ó Fiaich, the constant harassment to which Aidan was subjected. Some were sympathetic and endeavoured to act. Others were silent. It must be recorded that the British army and the RUC were facilitated in their conduct towards Aidan by the attitude and actions of the forces of this State. This was because Aidan was also subject to harassment by members of the Garda Síochána, undermining any credibility the authorities in this State may have had in raising his case with the British Government. In the years following the Hillsborough Agreement of 1985, Border posts and checkpoints like those at Aughnacloy were greatly reinforced by the British army and RUC with full co-operation from Governments in this jurisdiction. We in the Border communities bore the brunt of that British military occupation.

Such was the outrage at Aidan's death that the then Fianna Fáil Government ordered a Garda inquiry. During the course of that inquiry, I met with Deputy Garda Commissioner Eugene Crowley and outlined the litany of harassment Aidan had endured. I recall that a spokesperson for the Progressive Democrats went on RTE radio to say that the Garda inquiry should not listen to anyone connected with Sinn Féin, even if he or she had witnessed the murder. That Progressive Democrats spokesperson was none other than the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney.

After many years of official silence, the historical inquiries team of the PSNI has published its report on the shooting of Aidan McAnespie. As I said, it found that the version offered by the British soldier who fired the fatal shot was the least likely explanation of what happened. The murder of Aidan was compounded by the lies that were told by the British army afterwards. The soldier who fired the fatal shot claimed his finger slipped onto the trigger when he was moving the general purpose machine gun. This lie has been exposed by the historical inquiries team report. The McAnespie family and the community have been vindicated.

However, the Crowley report has not been published. It should be opened immediately to the family and then published. Like others who participated in that inquiry, I find it totally unacceptable that the report is still being kept secret after more than 20 years. The Minister responsible and the Government collectively should immediately approve the release of that report.

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