An Garda Síochána
Dail Éireann — 2022-02-15
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Martin Kenny (SF), Sligo-Leitrim

As you said, a Cheann Comhairle, the country was quite shocked by this programme. For younger people who were not around at that time, it was a huge revelation that this kind of thing happened. I have read the Minister of State's response. I thank him for it, but it does not go where it needs to go. The State must take responsibility for what happened. It must be very clear not only that we will ensure this does not happen again but also that we will look back in a very forensic way at how this situation occurred in all of these cases. There are many more cases as well.
I spoke to Mick Peelo, who made the documentary, and he told me that there are numerous other cases around the country on which he could have made similar documentaries. He said that in all of those cases he was convinced from talking to the families that there was a clear trend in all of them of the same modus operandi being used by the same group of gardaí who continued to go into places and very often decided who the guilty party was and then made the evidence fit. That is the difficulty we have here. It is the way this was done and carried out in so many cases. It led to miscarriages of justice and a mistrust of the process and the Garda Síochána in many communities around the country where this sort of thing happened.
I will not name anyone, but I spoke to other people, including one man from Galway who was convicted of a murder he vehemently denies he committed, although he spent ten years in jail for it. I have spoken to others around the country in similar situations. The only way to resolve this is for the State to have the courage to stand up and have a proper commission of investigation into all of these cases. I know issues will be raised about the cost, but at what cost do we have freedom in the justice system and justice for these people who have been so badly wronged?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2022-02-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:50:07+00:00
Sitting date: 2022-02-15