Northern Ireland Troubles: Seven year inquest delay shows Dublin 'disinterested' in legacy transparency, says UUP MLA

Lgeacy stakerholders have raised concerns after a hearing this week in the inquest into the murder of Londonderry RIRA member Kieran Doherty.

Mr Doherty was found dead near Londonderry close to the Irish border in 2010.

His inquest heard this week that it has been seeking information about his murder from An Garda Siochana (AGS) and the Irish Chief State Solicitor’s Office (CSSO) for seven years without success.

Ian Skelt KC, counsel to NI Coroner Brian Sherrard, this week described this as a “matter of concern" and said they were "surprised" that the CSSO framed his requests for “material” as a request for a “witness”.

The News Letter has reported a similar process experienced by families of victims of the Kingsmills Massacre families.

After nine years of requests for material, a closed court hearing was held in Dublin where an AGS witness answered 77 questions from the families. Neither the families nor media were allowed to attend and the AGS answers will never be made public.

Stephen Toal KC, acting for the Doherty family, said this week that "seven-and-a-half years have now been wasted and after all that time the Irish state is still silent on what information they hold."

“It’s unfortunate to say this, but it is either incompetence or it is deliberate and it follows a familiar pattern to all of us who deal with cases in this area,” he added.

He said Dublin had also failed to open up about the Dublin Monaghan bombings and the Omagh Bombing.

UUP Legacy Spokesman Doug Beattie said Mr Doherty’s inquest has thrown up "just how disinterested the Irish Government is in providing information".

This is illustrated by "continual stalling" regarding the Kingsmill massacre and their refusal to hold an inquiry into the Omagh bombing, he said.

"The former was a scandalous dereliction of responsibility and the latter, condemned unanimously through a UUP Assembly motion, has led me to write to the Irish Justice Minister outlining our concerns."

Belfast solicitor Trevor Ringland, who follows legacy matters closely, said: "The delay in this and other inquests says it all about the Irish Government’s commitment to Legacy. The Irish Government, instead of opposing the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), should agree to cooperate with it in full."

The ICRIR, Northern Ireland’s Troubles legacy body, has also expressed concern about getting information from Irish authorities about Troubles era murders.

In February, Chief Commissioner Sir Declan Morgan told MLAs there is no reason why the Irish Government should not provide information to him about Troubles murders.

“Just as the British Government needs to face up by giving us all the relevant information, the Irish Government needs to do the same insofar as it is capable of doing so," he said.

Kenny Donaldson, Director of victims group (SEFF) said the Irish state “does not have the political will to advance legacy for either its own citizens or victims based in Northern Ireland”.

He added: “We need it to move forward with us constructively and with integrity, because the past continues to infect the present and must be confronted.”

The Irish Department of Justice was invited to comment.