Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Ó Caoláin for raising this matter on this poignant day, the 30th anniversary of the killing of Aidan McAnespie. Deputy Ó Caoláin recalls being a Sinn Féin councillor at the time. I was a Member of this House on that day and what happened was a devastating tragedy for Aidan McAnespie, his family and the entire community in Aughnacloy and beyond, even into Deputy Ó Caoláin's own county of Monaghan. His death was needless and I am very conscious of the continued suffering of his family.

Given the widespread public disquiet at the death of Aidan McAnespie, the Government requested that an inquiry be carried out into the shooting and surrounding circumstances. The then Deputy Garda Commissioner, Eugene Crowley, was appointed to conduct this inquiry. However, because of fears that many people in the local community expressed to him as to their safety and security, they co-operated only and explicitly on the basis of an assurance of absolute confidentiality and that what they related to Deputy Commissioner Crowley was for the Government only.

This report was submitted to the Minister for Justice in April 1988. To seek to release the full content of the Crowley report, even at this stage 30 years later, would be a breach of trust of the Irish Government to those parties. In 2002, the Government approved an outline summary of the Crowley report’s conclusions and it was provided to the McAnespie family. At that time, detailed consideration was given to producing an edited or redacted version of the report that would be meaningful, would not compromise confidentiality and could be provided to the family. However, given the nature of the report, it did not prove possible to do so. I have recently arranged for further copies of the limited summary and the post mortem examination report prepared by Professor John Harbison to be provided to the McAnespie family through their legal representatives.

Deputies will appreciate that the Government must have full regard to the expectations of the many people who contributed in good faith to the Crowley inquiry on the basis of a specific guarantee of absolute confidentiality and to the persisting obligation in that regard. Regrettably, under these circumstances it is not considered possible to publish or further disseminate the report in its entirety. It is a source of regret to me that this will inevitably be a disappointment to Aidan McAnespie’s family, who suffer from his tragic loss to this very day. However, the Irish Government is fully committed to the consensus that has been achieved in the 2014 Stormont House Agreement on the framework of institutions to assist families access information about the deaths of their loved ones as a result of the conflict in Northern Ireland. The full implementation of that agreement has been hampered by the lack of a resolution on re-establishing the Executive in Northern Ireland. I have listened to what Deputy Ó Caoláin said regarding the witnesses and I will reflect on what options might be viable to further assist the McAnespie family.

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