Decisions must be explained

FOR the second time in a week, the Director of Public Prosecutions is mired in controversy over his failure to explain why no prosecution was instituted in a case now causing widespread public concern.

In the wake of the furore over the Adrian Moynihan case, it has emerged that the DPP has decided to take no action against a 19-year-old Traveller who was behind the wheel of a car which smashed into a four-year-old girl during a bloody feud between rival factions of the Travelling community at Tallaght in Dublin.

Six months on, and after multiple operations, the dismayed parents of Elizabeth Heapes have learned that the DPP has decided to bring no charges against the teenage driver responsible for running down their daughter.

Last week, Andrew Moynihan felt driven to stage a hunger strike outside the Dáil in a personal demonstration over the DPP’s failure to prosecute anyone in relation to the death of his son Adrian after a nightclub confrontation in Cork.

In the event, Mr Moynihan’s protest sparked political outrage culminating in Justice Minister Michael McDowell having to apologise to him, and rightly so, for failing to personally answer Dáil questions on his son’s death.

In a deplorable display of insensitivity, the minister, who had been due to attend a private function which was cancelled, remained in the bar on return to the Dáil while Junior Minister Ivor Callely answered questions on the matter as Mr Moynihan carried out his lonely protest on the street outside.

Underlying the horrifying details of these and other violent incidents, there is a worrying practice on the part of the DPP not to issue any explanation for failing to bring proceedings in certain instances.

For obvious reasons, the independence of the DPP has to be maintained and thus it is vital to guard against political interference with his office.

But, in terms of normal decency and compassion, it should be incumbent on the director to explain decisions that appear unconscionable and give rise to public unease.

All too often, the parents of victims are kept in the dark. In the appalling case of Elizabeth Heapes, it was only last Friday, six months after the incident, that her distraught parents learned the DPP had decided not to recommend charges.

And in the tragic case of Adrian Moynihan, it required a special request by Mr McDowell for the garda commissioner to prepare an up-to-date report on the circumstances surrounding his death.

The gardaí have conceded that in the vast majority of cases, they do not inform people about the help available from Victim Support, a voluntary organisation established by the Government in 1985 to offer emotional support and practical help to victims of crime.

Hopefully, this problem will now be remedied following a partnership agreement between the support body and the gardaí to ensure every victim is told about the group’s activities.

Naturally, care must be taken not to infringe privacy by referring people to Victim Support without their permission.

The dreadful experience of the Moynihan and Heapes families is tragic testimony of the unimaginable trauma which victims go through in the aftermath of serious crime.

There is a grave onus on the DPP to justify a decision not to institute proceedings in high-profile cases where the present official policy of silence can cause deep distress.