Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 6 February 2014
2. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Defence if he will provide an update on the case of two members of the Defence Forces (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5768/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraOn 27 April 1981, two privates in our Defence Forces were manning an observation post in the village of Dyar Ntar, south Lebanon. One of them, Private Hugh Doherty, from Letterkenny in my constituency, lost his life, while the other, Private Kevin Joyce from the Aran Islands, was kidnapped and his body has never been found. I am seeking a reinvestigation of the matter by the Minister and ask that every person who may have knowledge from that period about what happened on that day be interviewed.
The case to which the Deputy refers dates back to 1981 and relates to an attack on two members of the Irish battalion serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, at that time. On 27 April 1981, an observation post in south Lebanon manned by Private Hugh Doherty and Private Kevin Joyce came under attack. Private Doherty was later found dead from gunshot wounds and Private Joyce was missing, while some equipment was also missing. The attackers are unknown.
The incident and the disappearance of Private Joyce have been the subject of ongoing investigation by successive Irish units in UNIFIL, including a Military Police investigation in 1985, an intensive investigation by the 88th battalion in 2000-01 and a senior officer delegation in 2005, assisted by diplomatic efforts at the highest level, to endeavour to locate his whereabouts. To date, no information has been elicited to lead to the recovery of Private Joyce. However, I am advised by the military authorities that the situation in UNIFIL is that the case remains open. Efforts are made from time to time in Lebanon to establish the location of the private's remains and, if located, efforts will be made to repatriate them. The Department will continue to make every effort to bring this tragic case to a conclusion.
There are two aspects to this tragedy. The most important is the fact that Private Kevin Joyce's body has not been recovered and returned to his family on the Aran Islands. The other aspect is the apparently poor investigation into the circumstances that led to this incident. I have read a book by Frank Sumner, who served proudly in our Defence Forces for more than 20 years and who was in the Lebanon at the time. He has a number of questions. Why were statements not taken from all members of the Defence Forces serving there at the time? There are issues around the observation post being isolated and not appearing to have the necessary support to prevent the tragic events of that day. Casings from the bullets used to kill Private Hugh Doherty were recovered at the scene but they seemed to have been misplaced afterwards. There is also the issue of the force's mobile reserve being withdrawn from the area after three days. Mr. Sumner has a range of questions in this book, From One End Of The Rainbow. Will officials from the Department of Defence or the Minister meet him to go through the concerns he has and the allegations he has made? I have not seen them challenged to date and while it is open to the Department to challenge them, there is clearly a need to re-investigate this issue and to get all the answers for the two families.
With regard to tragic events such as this, the Deputy well knows in the context of this island the difficulty in locating remains where the likelihood is that individuals are still on the island who were the perpetrators of the murder of innocent individuals. It is a great deal more difficult in the context of an unidentified attack on two members of an Irish UN battalion where one individual effectively disappeared - and there is, tragically, no indication that he is still alive - to go about identifying the location of the remains. That is a great deal more difficult because on this island there are individuals who know who shot whom and where the remains are. We do not know who is responsible in this case. I would dearly love to achieve clarity and closure for the families.
I have received correspondence from individuals who allege there was a cover-up by the Defence Forces in this tragic incident and there has been a request for a new inquiry, but two inquiries were conducted into the incident, the first by the United Nations and the second by the then director of operations for the Defence Forces, Colonel Savino. What is clear from the Savino report is that there was a comprehensive and critical review of the incident. Inadequacies in the way procedures were operated and the establishment and staffing of the post where the individuals in question were tragically killed were identified in the report. I am not making the case that everything was perfect. However, recommendations were made to address the deficiencies and these, obviously, are matters of importance in the context of the way we conduct operations today.
I will make two points. First, this incident happened a long time ago and it will not be easy to locate the remains. I want to establish if the Government or the Defence Forces serving in Lebanon recently made contact with either the Palestinian or the Lebanese authorities? I know that in 2001 the then Minister, Mr. Michael Smith, and others had been in contact with the Palestinian authorities and that there might have been a possibility that somebody would be able to assist in finding the location of the remains. Will the Minister or an official from his Department meet Mr. Frank Sumner about the issues he has raised in his book? It would be in the public interest to meet him, to hear what he has to say and to either investigate or dismiss them, as is the Minister's right. These issues need to be addressed and answers given.
First, if I can be of assistance in meeting them, I am always willing to meet the families. I have received correspondence and I am reviewing and considering its content, but I must be realistic in the context of the issues the Deputy has raised. As I mentioned, successive Irish UNIFIL battalions and successive Ministers have inquired into this incident. I can recall on one of my visits to Lebanon that I raised this issue in a conversation with the head of the UNIFIL force but no light has been shone to identify the individuals responsible for the attack and there is no indication of where the remains may or could be located across southern Lebanon or elsewhere. There are no individuals whom we can identify, so many years on, who could provide further or greater enlightenment. I wish it were the case that there were, but I do not want to hold out unrealistic expectations for the families. I understand their need for closure, but, unfortunately, from my own inquiries into the matter - this was an issue to which I gave some consideration quite some time ago - it seems there is only a very remote possibility of further information becoming available.
