Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this matter of importance on what is the most poignant day, the 30th anniversary of the killing of Aidan McAnespie, a 24 year old man from County Tyrone who was fatally shot as he walked through the British Army checkpoint at Aughnacloy on this day on 21 February 1988. What happened on that day 30 years ago was a devastating tragedy for the McAnespie family and for the community in the Aughnacloy area. His death was needless. I am very conscious of the continued suffering of his family and the continued concern in the community.Given the widespread public disquiet at the death of Aidan McAnespie, the Government requested that an inquiry be carried out into the shooting and surrounding circumstances. The then deputy Garda commissioner, Eugene Crowley, was appointed to conduct this inquiry. However, many people in the local community expressed their fears to him as to their safety and security and co-operated only and explicitly on the basis of an assurance of absolute confidentiality and that what they related to Deputy Commissioner Crowley was for the Government only. This report was submitted to the Minister for Justice in April 1988. To release the entire contents of the Crowley report even at this stage, 30 years later, would be a breach of trust of the Irish Government to the parties involved.

I have recently arranged for further copies of the limited summary and the post mortem report prepared by Professor John Harbison to be provided to the McAnespie family through their legal representatives. Senators will appreciate that the Government has a persisting obligation to the commitment that was given to those people in the locality and elsewhere who co-operated with the inquiry. Under these circumstances, therefore, it is not considered possible to publish or further disseminate the report. It is a source of regret to me that this will inevitably be a disappointment to Aidan McAnespie’s family who suffer from his tragic loss to this very day. However, the fact is that I must have full regard to the expectations of the many people who contributed in good faith to the Crowley inquiry on the basis of an explicit guarantee of absolute confidentiality and to the persisting obligation that I have in that regard.