Sinn Féin urged to take action to help find Moate soldier's killer
TOP: The late Private Patrick Kelly on UN duty in South Lebanon.
The son of a Moate man who was the only serving Defence Forces member to die in the Troubles has called on the Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald to take action to help bring people to justice for his murder.
David Kelly was responding to comments made by Deputy McDonald in an interview with the Westmeath Independent in which she said she would have “no difficulty” in committing herself to get answers for families who have suffered in the Troubles, including the Kelly family.
Private Paddy Kelly was shot dead on December 16, 1983, during the rescue of kidnapped supermarket executive Don Tidey at Derrada Woods near Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim.
She told the Westmeath Independent: “I can only imagine what the Kelly family suffered. Let me tell you, if I could rewrite history, I would rewrite the history for that poor family.
“I can’t do that. But I can assure them of my utmost respect, my absolute sympathy and also just to say directly to them that we understand that there have to be processes by which families like the Kelly family get some comfort and succour and they are not on their own, though they feel at times that they are very much on their own with their grief.
“This is about to the very best of our ability getting answers for families. And I have no difficulty committing myself to that irrespective of who the family is, irrespective of the circumstances.”
Private Kelly's son David said, in his view, the sincerity of her remarks would be shown by the actions she would take to help “to properly address the many unanswered questions surrounding the events of December 16th 1983 in Derrada Wood.”
He asked if she could use her position to “persuade the Provisional IRA to finally take full responsibility for its actions by issuing a public statement admitting that its members fired the fatal bullets that murdered two members of the security forces.”
He said this had never been explicitly stated during the last 36 years and that “malicious rumours have circulated that the murders were in fact a friendly-fire incident” that had been covered up by the authorities.
He said the issue needed to be addressed and asked if the Sinn Féin president could help by persuading the Provisional IRA to clarify its position on the matter.
David continued: “As the son of the soldier murdered by the Provisional IRA, I don't just want someone held accountable for the murder, I demand it.
“The fact that they are Troubles-related murders should not mean that they are treated any differently to any other murder that occurred in the same period,” he said, stating that the pursuit of justice did not threaten peace and asserted the primacy of law and order in a modern democracy.
“No one should be above the law, neither members of Loyalist or Republican terrorist groups, nor individual members of state security forces who commit a criminal act.”
Acknowledging that the Sinn Féin leader had described the taking of his father's life as "absolutely wrong", he called on her to also describe the event as murder.
“Private Patrick Joseph Kelly was not engaged in any war when he was gunned down by Provisional IRA terrorists. He was participating in an Aid to the Civil Power (ATCP) operation to return a kidnapped citizen back to his family. “
He said a description of the crime as murder would help the family to find closure.
David Kelly said: “Private Kelly and Garda Sheehan gave their tomorrows for a safer, peaceful Ireland. There can be no hiding place for the individuals who stole their lives away from their families, friends, neighbours and comrades. Our family was deeply impacted after terrorism came to our door. The bullets that killed my father and Garda Sheehan are still travelling up to the present time, in the hurt and harm they have caused and continue to cause to so many.
He said he wanted Mary Lou McDonald to “give substance to her words of respect and sympathy” with action.
“A precedent needs to be set that no-one can murder two members of the security forces and think themselves untouchable.
"Anyone with information about the events in Derrada Wood must bring it to the attention of An Garda Siochana. Private Kelly and Garda Sheehan gave their lives for their country, the least they deserve is someone to be held accountable in return for their sacrifice for our freedom.”