Justice for Terence Wheelock
Paul Murphy called for an independent investigation into Terence Wheelock’s death following Garda custody and alleged failures to preserve evidence. The Taoiseach undertook to discuss the case and possible inquiry with the Minister for Justice and seek answers for the family.
Family, friends and supporters of justice for Terence Wheelock were on the streets on Saturday. Terence was a young man who left his home 21 years ago. He was arrested by the Garda and brought to Store Street Garda station where he received fatal injuries from which he never recovered, and he never came home again. After that, his cell was completely renovated and repainted instead of being preserved for investigation. The photos show substantial bruising and cuts that were not on Terence's body when he was arrested. His clothes were heavily bloodstained. Changes were made to his custody record and there were significant problems with the timeframe between the supposed incident and an ambulance being called. The question for the Taoiseach is whether the Government will finally concede to the family's request to have an independent inquiry into the death of Terence Wheelock. Will the Taoiseach also indicate when his Minister is going to implement the regulations to allow the renaming of Diamond Park to the Terence Wheelock Memorial Park, as wanted by the community?
Comment on this
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I will discuss the issues he has raised with the Minister for justice. He called for an independent inquiry but, again, we would have to discuss that in terms of the type of inquiry. We have had many inquiries. They take an inordinate length of time. I will talk to the Minister and see if we can get answers. That is a more important point for the family concerned here. It has been a long period of time. I will talk to the Minister and come back to the Deputy.