Claudy: Grave injustice by people at the top

WHILE I agree very much with your editorial (August 25) on Al Hutchinson’s report on the collusion to protect Fr Jim Chesney from proper investigation by the RUC, I was surprised at the mildness of tone.

If Mr Hutchinson is correct in his conclusions, and it is hard to believe he would have published them had he been unsure, then a grave injustice has been perpetrated.

When you look at those involved in this collusion, the gravity increases. The most senior police officer in Northen Ireland, the most senior Catholic churchman in all Ireland and the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland all put their heads together to pervert the course of justice with scant regard for those who suffered from the appalling crime at Claudy in 1972.

Because of their respective positions and particular responsibilities, each of them had an especial duty to ensure Fr Chesney’s activities were thoroughly investigated and if sufficient evidence was found, that he be charged and appropriately sentenced if found guilty.

The only reason this was not done was expediency. The very rock on which all true democracies rest is the rule of law. Whenever this is ignored, injustice is done. Let justice be done though the heavens fall.

Fergus O’Leary

Ardmore Estate

Passage West

Co Cork