The truth will set us free, so let’s set up a commission to find it

THE parents of the late Brian Murphy, the teenage student who was kicked to death in a fight outside Club Anabel in Dublin in August 2000 — gave a poignant interview this week following the inquest into the death of their son. They are left with a life sentence of the pain of their loss.

Five people were charged with manslaughter, but ultimately nobody has been convicted. Brian Murphy’s parents emphasised that they were not looking for revenge. Their loss is aggravated by the sense that the system does not facilitate the expression of remorse. They were looking for the truth, but the rules of evidence in our adversarial court system do not facilitate finding the truth.

Looking back over the past 40 years there were so many senseless deaths on this island. The first killings of the most recent Northern troubles in 1966 were not the work of the IRA, but of the UVF.