Jim Higgins (Fine Gael)

I thank the Cathaoirleach for choosing this important matter for discussion on the Adjournment. In the early hours of 25 May 1991, Sinn Féin councillor, Eddie Fullerton, was gunned down at the bedroom door of his house in Buncrana, County Donegal. Reports at the time stated that three men had been involved in the murder, that they had been collected by boat and had escaped across the River Foyle and that a burned out car was left in their wake. The UFF claimed responsibility and said that Councillor Fullerton was gunned down in retaliation for the killing of a Protestant man, Ian Sproule, in Castlederg almost six weeks previously.

For 12 years the perpetrators of the crime have remained at large. However, on Sunday last, 22 June, journalist Frank Connolly revealed sensational evidence in Ireland on Sunday which throws the case wide open and which makes it imperative that a new investigation must be established. The new evidence points the finger in the direction of British intelligence involvement in the murder of Councillor Fullerton and the possibility that the Garda Síochána colluded in the occurrence, certainly from the point of view of not carrying out a proper investigation.

The new information comes by way of a detailed statement, which, I understand, has been or is about to be given to the office of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, by a reputable individual from Derry. This individual witnessed certain activities in the hours immediately after the murder. The new witness says he was afraid to come forward until now because, naturally, he was concerned that he might also become a target for assassination. The witness is adamant that he saw an unmarked RUC Sierra vehicle pick up the killers at a remote location in County Derry, within a half an hour of the shooting and after they had burned the car used in the killing. The gang of three was taken in an RUC vehicle to Derry, through a permanent British army checkpoint.

Within hours of the killing, the witness told RUC officers and a Garda superintendent that he had seen three men in khaki clothes and hoods close to where the burned out car was found. However, he was never asked to make a signed statement and has never been approached since then by either the RUC or the Garda Síochána about the killing.

The one interview he had with police was when he was visited by two RUC officers who came to his home and introduced him to a Garda superintendent sitting in the back of an RUC patrol car. He described the clothing of those he believed to be the killers, one of whom had fair hair and was in his late 20s or early 30s. The witness's description of the three men matched that given to the Garda Síochána by a Buncrana family who were held hostage in their home near Mr. Fullerton's house and whose car was used by the gang in the attack.

The Fullerton family has repeatedly criticised the Garda inquiry. Their house was isolated by gardaí for 48 hours, yet key evidence, including hair apparently from the killers, was not retrieved. The dead councillor's personal ledger, containing confidential notes and diary entries, was never returned to his family and there is other disquieting evidence which time does not permit me to explore here.

It is known that the killers came from, and escaped back, North of the border. Some 12 years have elapsed and nobody has been charged with, let alone convicted of, the murder of Councillor Fullerton.