Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Independent)
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415. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will make a public statement on the wrongful conviction and posthumous pardon of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18603/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I would refer the Deputy to my statement of 1 April 2015 in which I announced that the Government had decided to advise the President to exercise his right of pardon under Article 13.6 of the Constitution in respect of the conviction in 1941 of Mr. Harry Gleeson for the murder of Ms. Mary McCarthy.

This decision came following a review of the case by Mr. Shane Murphy SC on the direction of the Attorney General. This review concluded that in Mr. Murphy's opinion there were deficiencies in the conviction of Mr Gleeson which render it unsafe, and I gave further details of these matters in my original statement. Having considered Mr. Murphy's opinion, the Attorney General advised the Government that the deficiencies in the conviction warranted the Government recommending to the President that he exercise his right of pardon. The Government accepted this advice.

The Government deeply regrets that a man was convicted and executed in circumstances now found to be unsafe. All that can be done now by way of remedy is to clear his name of the conviction, and that process has been put in train. Equally the Government regrets that this decision leaves unresolved the brutal murder of Ms. Mary McCarthy, whose children were deprived of their mother in terrible circumstances. The Government has expressed its sympathy with both families and with all those affected by this crime and the subsequent conviction.