Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

On behalf of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, I thank Senator Higgins for raising this matter and for providing me with an opportunity to address it.

Let me state, unequivocally, my abhorrence at the heinous murder of Mr. Eddie Fullerton, who was at the time a Sinn Féin councillor on Donegal County Council, in the early hours of the morning of 25 May 1991. The attack was brutal and also involved the taking hostage of a family in Buncrana. Unfortunately, to date, no person has been made amenable for this dreadful crime, but the file remains open.

As I am sure Senators are aware, responsibility for the murder was claimed by the Ulster Freedom Fighters, which said that Councillor Fullerton was killed because he had passed information to the IRA. The subsequent Garda investigation indicated that there was no evidence to substantiate this claim, not that this is in any way relevant to what was, after all, a cold-blooded murder.

I am aware of the report in the newspaper in question on Sunday, 22 June 2003, to which Senator Higgins referred. However, on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, I have to say that nothing in the article indicates to me that a separate inquiry into the allegations would be an appropriate or commensurate response.