Justice Minister defends his actions regarding Creeslough families
Vivienne Clarke
Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan has said it is his priority to ensure that the families who suffered as a result of the Creeslough tragedy get justice.
“The only way they will get justice is through the courts. And there is an ongoing garda investigation, and there's also a file that has been sent to the DPP,” he told RTÉ radio’s Today with David McCullagh show.
“I want to ensure that criminal justice process proceeds and is completed. And I don't want to, in fairness to the families, the reason why they want to meet me is because they want me to establish a public inquiry in respect of Creeslough. I said I'm not ruling that out, but I will not establish a public inquiry until such time as the criminal justice process and the inquest has completed.
O'Callaghan said he wants to see the process sped up, as he can "understand the pain the family are going through" by the process taking such a long time.
“But in order for justice to be delivered, it can only be delivered through the criminal justice process and inquiries; although lots of politicians and people call for inquiries, they don't deliver justice.”
When asked about his “insensitive comments” when he declined to meet the Creeslough families, the Minister said that he wanted to get justice for the families and the only way to do that was to go through the court process.
“That's how I want to proceed. As Minister for Justice, and I am a sensitive person, but it's my primary function to ensure that justice is delivered. And the only way that can be delivered is through the courts.
“People sometimes believe that inquiries or tribunals or commissions of investigations provide justice. They don't. They provide means of providing answers to people.
"If we want to get justice, and I want to see justice for the Creeslough families, we need to ensure that the prosecutions, which hopefully are impending, will occur and complete.
“But like I have emphasised that the file has gone to the DPP. There's further statutory inquiry ongoing that may lead to a prosecution. I want to see those files processed within the office of the DPP as quickly as possible. And if there are going to be prosecutions, I want to see those prosecutions commencing as quickly as possible. But as you know, I can't interfere in how the DPP does her work.”
