Garda Corruption: the Eddie Fullerton murder
‘The worst is yet to come’
by Jarlath Kearney
j.kearney@dailyireland.com
An Garda Síochána and the Department of Justice could be rocked by further shocking revelations if a full public inquiry into the 1991 murder of Buncrana Councillor Eddie Fullerton can be established.
Following last week’s devastating report by the Morris Tribunal, which outlined widespread corruption and negligence within the Garda, Councillor Fullerton’s son Albert last night declared that “the worst is yet to come”.
Mr Fullerton was assassinated by a loyalist death squad from the North on May 25, 1991 at his home in Buncrana.
Serious questions have surrounded Mr Fullerton’s murder, including the ability of loyalists to gain detailed local intelligence, as well as making safe passage to and from their base in the North.
Mr Fullerton’s family have also highlighted the nature of the original Garda investigation and the Department of Justice’s ongoing conduct as causes of major concern.
As their campaign to expose “collusion and cover-up” in relation to Mr Fullerton’s murder gathers momentum, the Buncrana man’s family will travel to Dublin next week in a bid to secure cross-party backing.
The Fullerton family will take a delegation to Leinster House on Thursday, June 16 at the invitation of Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh. The meeting with cross-party representatives will come just 24 hours ahead of the first Dáil debate on the findings of the Morris Tribunal.
“In my view, when the final truth comes out about Eddie Fullerton’s murder, it will take a generation to build the trust between the people and the Garda which has been destroyed,” Albert Fullerton said.
“The thing is that people in politics and legal circles and the general public haven’t yet come to terms with how damaging this is. The worst is yet to come.
“I was first making it public that Garda corruption and ineptitude existed in 1991 and I have now been totally vindicated.”
Mr Fullerton insisted there is now no possible excuse for failing to have a full public inquiry into his father’s murder.
However, he questioned whether Minister of Justice Michael McDowell would concede the family’s demand for a figure with international repute to sit on such a tribunal.
“We’re now hoping that the TDs we will meet next week are willing to grasp the nettle and recognise that this is a social issue – not a political issue.
“Eddie Fullerton was a fellow elected public representative of the Irish people and we are now asking all political representatives to put the need for a full, public inquiry with international oversight to the Department of Justice as a matter of urgency,” Albert Fullerton said.
Mr Fullerton revealed that his mother Dinah will travel to the Dáil with other family members before attending a crucial private consultation with legal advisers.
