Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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110. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he is aware, of the decision by the family of a person (details supplied) to appeal a decision that the British Prime Minister, Mr. David Cameron, acted lawfully in refusing to hold a public inquiry into his killing; that it is now well established that British state forces colluded with the loyalist death squad which carried out the killing of this human rights lawyer; and if he will raise and discuss this appeal with his British counterpart, and again re-iterate the call on the British Government to hold a public inquiry into the killing of the person. [36925/15]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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It is a matter of public record that collusion occurred during the Troubles between British State forces and paramilitaries. Successive Irish Governments, in our ongoing bilateral relations and through the European Court of Human Rights at Strasbourg, have raised the issue of collusion with the British Government.

We continue to do so, including in relation to a number of individual cases of long-standing concern such as this case.

I have raised the case of this person on a number of occasions with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. I made clear that the Irish Government considers there was a political commitment made at the highest level by both Governments at Weston Park in 2001 in relation to the holding of public inquiries in a number of controversial cases and that this commitment remains unfulfilled in this case. The Secretary of State continues to take the view that the De Silva Review of December 2012 and Prime Minister Cameron’s apology in Parliament constitute the British Government’s response to this case.

On 26 June 2015, the High Court in Belfast dismissed an application for a judicial review of the Secretary of State’s decision not to hold a public inquiry into this murder. I am aware of the decision of the family to appeal this decision and my Department will be monitoring developments on this application very closely. In the meantime, we continue to call on the British Government for an independent public inquiry into this murder. This is an approach which has cross-party support in the Houses of the Oireachtas.

I also note the Declaration issued by Mr. Justice Stephens on 8 September 2015 that as of 17 March 2009, an effective investigation into the murder had not been completed to a standard which complies with Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights. My Department is currently considering the possible implications of this Declaration.