Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom clann Shane O'Farrell a mholadh as an seasamh láidir a ghlac siad ar son Shane. Táimid uilig ag smaoineamh oraibh anocht agus ar Shane agus tá süil agam go dtiocfaidh an fhírinne amach ar deireadh.

I welcome members of the O'Farrell family here tonight in a spirit of solidarity but also in the hope that their long journey to secure both truth and justice will soon come to a successful conclusion. No family should have to bear the burden of effectively going up against the State while also carrying the burden of loss of such a beloved family member.

I welcome the announcement that Judge Haughton may be able to publish his initial report in the next few days. I say that fully understanding any apprehension that the family may still about today's report and the concerns that it will yet come to fruition.

In July of last year, I implored the Minister for Justice and Equality to establish a public inquiry and I do so again this evening. The intervening 16 months since that motion, which called for such an inquiry, was passed by a majority of this House have seen increased pressure placed on the O'Farrell family.

They know that they have the support of Sinn Féin, other parties and independent voices in this House. They know that in June 2018 a Dáil motion was passed calling for an independent inquiry. That should have been the end of their struggle and their search for the truth.

Someone or other should have been appointed then to take the search forward, but it did not happen. In their search for the truth, while the memory of Shane sustains them, the O'Farrell family are motivated by the firm wish that no other family will ever suffer the prolonged agony they have had to endure. From my experience as a Teachta Dála over the past 22 years plus, and as the current Chairman of the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality, I believe a public inquiry is the only way this can be achieved. We cannot establish properly what changes need to be made, what systems need to change and what legislation may be required, or required to be amended, without getting to the bottom of what went so horribly wrong. We need to establish why Shane is not with his family today.

Shane's family have shown tenacity and great dignity, to such an extent that another great wrong would be perpetrated against them if they were not granted the means of establishing the truth. Establishing the truth for Shane, which will not replace the future stolen from him, may serve as a fitting legacy to his all too short life. Go raibh suaimhneas síoraí aige i gcónaí.

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