Dáil debates

Thursday, 23 September 2021

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate

Commissions of Investigation

4:00 pm

Photo of Claire KerraneClaire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Fr. Niall Molloy was a son, a brother, an uncle, a neighbour, a friend and a parish priest to the people of Castlecoote, County Roscommon. He was held in the highest regard by those who knew him and those whom he served in his parish. Fr. Molloy was brutally murdered 36 years ago. It is 36 years later and there have been no answers and, more importantly, there has been no justice. There has been no justice for Fr. Molloy or for his family who has to live with the injustice every day. I cannot begin to imagine the pain of that.

This happened before I was born, but there is not one person growing up in County Roscommon who does not know about Fr. Niall Molloy. The recent documentary shown on RTÉ has put a spotlight on the case yet again. There is no doubt in my mind that this was a cover-up. It is wrong. This Government should bring the injustice to an end, once and for all, by establishing a commission of investigation into the death of Fr. Molloy. It is the very least that he and his family deserve. We must remember in all of this that Fr. Niall Molloy was a person. His life mattered. I plead with the Minister of State and the Government to end the injustice for this family, 36 years later. I ask them to establish that commission of investigation into his death to give the family the justice they deserve and those answers that they have not yet received 36 years after somebody that they loved was killed.

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