Barrons sue State after nine years of suffering
Legal papers due to be served today will accuse the Minister for Justice, the Garda Commissioner and the Attorney General of negligence and dereliction of duty in their failure to ensure a proper investigation into Mr Barron’s death.
The 54-year-old Raphoe cattle dealer’s widow, Nora, her grown-up children and several other close family members will seek compensation for the trauma and suffering caused to them by nine years of grief and anxiety since Mr Barron died.
As the Dáil prepared to meet to formally discuss the findings of the Morris Tribunal to date for the first time today, the Barrons warned that the Government’s belated attempts to deal with the grievances of the McBrearty family would be only half its battle.
Along with their High Court proceedings, the Barrons are demanding an apology from Justice Minister Michael McDowell and Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy for the way Mr Barron’s death was handled and his family’s treatment in the years that followed.
They also want a definitive ruling on the cause of Mr Barron’s death and say they are prepared to call for another inquest and assemble a fresh set of forensics experts if it will help them get to the truth.
The first protracted inquest into Mr Barron’s death two years ago reached an open verdict after finding the evidence inconclusive as to whether he was the victim of a hit-and-run, assault or murder but the second Morris Report, published earlier this month, concludes there was no murder and that a hit-and-run accident was to blame.
The Barron family’s solicitor, Paudge Dorrian, said the family was left in the unprecedented position of having two different findings by two different bodies of apparently equal standing.
“This is a matter that has to be resolved. It is causing further distress to a family that needs answers. The law is not clear which of the two [verdicts] prevails and my instructions are to have that clarified in whatever way necessary. If that means reconvening the inquest, so be it.”
The Barron family have remained in the background of the Morris Tribunal which has focused on the attempted framing of the McBrearty family for what was at the time purported to be Mr Barron’s murder. But Mr Dorrian said they had now had enough.
He sent notice of the High Court action to Mr McDowell, Commissioner Conroy and the Attorney General’s office a month ago and issued formal proceedings on behalf of the family in the last few days.
“They are not happy. They are very disturbed that neither the minister nor the Garda Commissioner have apologised for the appalling treatment that was meted out to them. The death of Richie Barron has been sidelined completely. It’s just an inconsequential death of one person in Raphoe.”
The Dáil will discuss Mr Justice Frederick Morris’s findings today for the first time, although the first report was published 11 months ago. But opposition politicians claimed the Government was merely going through the motions as deputies would be confined to reading statements and no debate would be allowed or questions asked.
Labour will seek to have the Morris reports referred to the Oireachtas Justice Committee so that the commissioner, former ministers and justice officials can be invited for questioning. Fine Gael will ask that the passing of the new garda bill on reorganisation of the force be deferred until Justice Morris’s recommendations can be incorporated into it.
Why has it taken 11 months for the Dáil to discuss the tribunal reports?
Why are gardai criticised in the reports allowed retire without facing disciplinary proceedings?
How long before Justice Morris’s recommendations are implemented?
Why won’t tribunal terms of reference be widened to examine the role of current/former ministers, attorneys general, garda commissioners and DPPs?
Why can’t McBreartys have tribunal legal fees guaranteed like gardaí?
Why was Frank McBrearty Jnr’s action against the State fought before settlement plans were suggested?
What will the Government do about the other 40 similar actions pending?
Why have the family of Richie Barron received no formal apology?
When was Richie Barron’s death reclassified as a hit-and-run, on whose instructions and on what basis?
Who killed Richie Barron and what efforts are being made to prosecute the person responsible?
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