CARTHY CHALLENGES TÁNAISTE ON SHANE O’FARRELL ISSUE AFTER PASSING OF DÁIL MOTION
Sinn Féin TD for Cavan/Monaghan Matt Carthy TD has challenged Tánaiste and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin TD to deliver on a previous commitment to a public inquiry into the circumstances of the death of in a hit-and-run accident of Carrickmacross man Shane O’Farrell in 2011. Deputy Carthy had sharp exchanges with the Tánaiste on the matter the day following the passing by the Dáil of a Sinn Féin motion which the Cavan/Monaghan Deputy proposed in relation to a public inquiry into Shane’s death.
The O’Farrell family have been campaigning for the full facts surrounding the Garda investigation into the incident to be disclosed. The driver of the vehicle involved was in breach of bail conditions at the time of the fatality and had multiple criminal convictions. In the vote on the motion moved by Deputy Carthy in the Dáil last week, the 63 Opposition Deputies present in the chamber supported its adoption but Government party TDs abstained. A full report on the Dáil debate is carried inside this week’s edition. In the Dáil the following day, Deputy Carthy stated: “I do not know if the Tánaiste has had a chance to reread the letter he wrote to the grieving mother of Shane O’Farrell in December 2019.
“In it, the Tánaiste told her that she could be assured of his continued support for a public inquiry to be set up. “Six months after that letter was sent to Lucia O’Farrell, Micheál Martin had become Taoiseach. In his time as Taoiseach, he did nothing to advance that pledge. “Last night, for a second time, the Dáil passed a resolution calling for a public inquiry into the death of Shane O’Farrell and the actions of State agencies. “Bizarrely, the Tánaiste and his colleagues in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, including three Members from Shane’s constituency, abstained in the vote on the motion. Members of Fianna Fáil who had sat in the O’Farrell’s kitchen and promised them that they would do everything in their power to ensure that this inquiry was set up, abstained.
“My question is very simple. Will the Tánaiste now ensure that the public inquiry into the death of Shane O’Farrell will finally be established? “If he does not, what does that say about his integrity and that of his party, that he would write such a letter to a grieving family and make such a commitment, ….
