An inquest into the death of a soldier who served overseas will be held in the State, in what is believed to be the first case of its kind.
A Donegal coroner has announced that he intends to hold an inquest into the death of Pte Kevin James Barrett, who was killed in south Lebanon while on peacekeeping duties in 1999.
The coroner for Donegal north-west, Mr Seán Cannon, expressed concern about the lack of information released concerning the death of Pte Barrett, whose body was found by members of the 84th Battalion in an observation post in the village of Brashit in Lebanon in February 1999.
At the time of his death the Defence Forces said the soldier's rifle was found beside his body. It was believed that no one else was involved in his death which was described as "a tragic accident".
However, speaking after a series of inquests in Donegal last week, Mr Cannon outlined his reasons for deciding to hold an inquest.
He said a military police investigation and two United Nations inquiries were conducted by the UN authorities into the death of Pte Barrett. The details were submitted to the United Nations in New York.
"Unfortunately, the UN Secretariat has advised the next of kin of Pte Barrett that, in accordance with their regulations, that report remains an internal document of the UN and cannot be released or made public in any way," Mr Cannon.
He said a short excerpt of the report had been released by UNIFIL, entitled "Description of Incident".
This was "a scant three-paragraph report", the coroner said.
"Prima facie, when looked at in the context that it is put, it is but a short excerpt from a larger report that is unclear, is without clarity, and is fraught with ambiguity as to the circumstances surrounding the death of Pte Barrett."
He continued: "In the hope of obtaining some general details surrounding the death of Pte Barrett, I have written to and contacted the Chief-of-Staff of the Department of Defence on several occasions.
"For some reason or another they have chosen to ignore my correspondence and contacts and I find it regrettable that the office of the Chief-of-Staff or the Deputy Chief-of-Staff were very unhelpful in my efforts to date in ascertaining preliminary details in relation to this tragic death."
However, a spokesman for the Defence Forces said yesterday there had been correspondence between the coroner and the Department of Defence, and the Defence Forces responded through the Department on behalf of the Chief-of-Staff.
He added that the Defence Forces had no difficulty with the holding of the inquest and would co-operate fully with it.
The coroner said it was his statutory responsibility to hold an inquest if he was of the opinion that the death may have occurred in a violent or unnatural manner.
He said it was a public policy consideration to hold an inquiry to allay rumours or suspicions and draw attention to the existence of circumstances which "if unremedied might lead to a further death, having considered matters within the aforesaid criteria".
In conclusion, he said: "I have decided to accede to the petition of the parents and next of kin of Pte Kevin James Barrett and have decided to hold an inquest as to the cause of his death."
The inquest would be listed for October, he said.
Pte Barrett was buried with full military honours in Milford, Co Donegal, on February 25th, 1999.
At the time of his death, Pte Barrett was with the 84th Infantry Battalion of UNIFIL on a six-month tour of duty in south Lebanon. He was attached to C Company on peacekeeping duties and stationed in Brashit.