Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not know if the Tánaiste has had a chance to reread the letter he wrote to the grieving mother of Shane O'Farrell in December 2019. In it, the Tánaiste told her that she could be assured of his continued support for a public inquiry to be set up. Six months after that letter was sent to Lucia O'Farrell, the Tánaiste became Taoiseach. In his time as Taoiseach, he did nothing to advance that pledge. Last night, for a second time, the Dáil passed a resolution calling for a public inquiry into the death of Shane O'Farrell and the actions of State agencies. Bizarrely, the Tánaiste and his colleagues in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, including three Members from Shane's constituency, abstained in the vote on the motion. Members of the Tánaiste's party who sat in the O'Farrell's kitchen and promised them that they would do everything in their power to ensure that this inquiry was set up, abstained. My question is very simple. Will the Tánaiste now ensure that the public inquiry into the death of Shane O'Farrell will finally be established? If he does not, what does that say about his integrity and that of his party, that he would write such a letter to a grieving family and make such a commitment, when it seems clear that he had no intention of fulfilling it?

See this speech in context