Father vows to continue justice fight

ANDREW MOYNIHAN has vowed to continue his campaign for justice for his son Adrian if he is not satisfied with the outcome of a forthcoming report on the case by the Garda Commissioner.

The Cork man has suspended his hunger strike and demands for a public inquiry into the death of his son after a row outside a nightclub two years ago.

Following the controversy over Minister for Justice Michael McDowell’s absence during a Dáil debate on the death of his son, Mr Moynihan received a written commitment from the minister that the Garda commissioner is now reviewing the case.

After meeting with Mr Moynihan, Mr McDowell agreed to report back to him within two to three weeks on the outcome of the review.

No prosecution was ever pursued in Adrian Moynihan’s case by the Director of Public Prosecutions. But Deputy State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy told an inquest last month she believed Mr Moynihan had died because of the way he was held down during the incident at Sidetrax nightclub in Cork.

Although the minister said in his letter he could not influence the decision of the DPP, he has asked the commissioner to furnish him with a report.

Fine Gael TD Bernard Allen, who raised the matter in the Dáil on Tuesday night, said the review was a positive development.

“I welcome the minister’s intervention at long last and his summoning of the commissioner. I hope the commissioner will now establish whether all the witnesses were questioned by gardaí,” he said.

According to Mr Moynihan, numerous questions remained to be answered and the case showed the need for an independent inspectorate to investigate the Garda Siochána.

“It’s not because of my case, but hundreds of cases that have gone by. It should be an individual body looking into it,” he said.