The family of Denis Donaldson suffered retraumatisation during Gerry Adams’ defamation case against the BBC, their lawyer has said.
Solicitor Enda McGarrity said the family had to sit through the high-profile five-week case at Dublin High Court when their own efforts to pursue legal remedies have been “stonewalled at every turn”.
Mr Adams was awarded 100,000 euros (£84,000) by a jury over a 2016 BBC programme which alleged he had sanctioned the murder of Mr Donaldson, a former Sinn Fein member who had been exposed as a British agent. Mr Adams had described the allegation as a “grievous smear”.
Mr Donaldson was shot dead in Co Donegal in 2006.
In 2009, the dissident republican group the Real IRA claimed responsibility for the killing and a Garda investigation into the matter remains ongoing.
Mr McGarrity told the RTE This Week programme the Donaldson family had been initially “ambivalent” as to the outcome of the case.
He said: “The case was seen as a sideshow in that the family was aware it wasn’t the type of case which would assist them in their long and tortuous search for answers and accountability.
“But of course as the trial played out it became difficult to ignore and retraumatising in many ways.
“The family had to listen along as private and sensitive information was tossed around with little regard to the Donaldson family.
“Probably the most galling part for the family is that they’ve had to sit through five weeks of hearings in a case which concerned the murder of their loved one Denis Donaldson, and yet when they’ve tried to pursue their own legal remedies, they’ve been stonewalled at every turn.
“The process has been an extremely difficult one for the family.”
Now that the libel case has concluded, Mr McGarrity said focus should turn to seeking answers for the Donaldson family.
He said: “It has been a tortuous 19-year search for justice and the family acknowledge this case was ostensibly about Gerry Adams’ reputation, not about uncovering the circumstances surrounding the murder of Denis Donaldson.
“However, what this case does do is shine a light on the wider, and clearly more important issue of the circumstances around Denis Donaldson’s murder.”
“The fact that the family have never had anything resembling an effective investigation into this murder highlights an uncomfortable truth for authorities on both sides of the border, particularly where legacy cases are concerned.”
The lawyer said the current Garda investigation was limited to who carried out the murder, not the wider circumstances.
He said: “When we look to mechanisms which could explore those you have things like coroners’ inquests, one of the practical difficulties is that the inquest has been adjourned 27 times, quite an unprecedented delay.
“It begs the question, how is justice to be delivered to the Donaldson family if the Garda investigation is only looking at a limited aspect of the murder and the coroner’s inquest won’t begin until that process finishes.
“That has led the family to call for a commission of investigation to properly investigate these issues.”
Mr McGarrity said there was a “unique cross-border element” to the death of Mr Donaldson.
He added: “Who was behind it and who pulled the trigger isn’t the only question. The circumstances leading up to that, how Denis Donaldson came to be exposed, how his location came to be known in Donegal, there are lots of ancillary questions.
“All of which I think the family are aware we may not get full unvarnished answers to every aspect, but at this point they haven’t even got close to the truth and they deserve answers and accountability.”
He said the Donaldson family would now be seeking a meeting with Irish Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan.
“This family are 19 years down the line and they are no further forward.
“There needs to be a discussion and we would certainly welcome prompt engagement with the minister.”
