Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There are two aspects to this tragedy. The most important is the fact that Private Kevin Joyce's body has not been recovered and returned to his family on the Aran Islands. The other aspect is the apparently poor investigation into the circumstances that led to this incident. I have read a book by Frank Sumner, who served proudly in our Defence Forces for more than 20 years and who was in the Lebanon at the time. He has a number of questions. Why were statements not taken from all members of the Defence Forces serving there at the time? There are issues around the observation post being isolated and not appearing to have the necessary support to prevent the tragic events of that day. Casings from the bullets used to kill Private Hugh Doherty were recovered at the scene but they seemed to have been misplaced afterwards. There is also the issue of the force's mobile reserve being withdrawn from the area after three days. Mr. Sumner has a range of questions in this book, From One End Of The Rainbow. Will officials from the Department of Defence or the Minister meet him to go through the concerns he has and the allegations he has made? I have not seen them challenged to date and while it is open to the Department to challenge them, there is clearly a need to re-investigate this issue and to get all the answers for the two families.

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