The Government must establish a full inquiry, led by an international judge, into the assassination of a Sinn Féin councillor in Co Donegal 14 years ago, the family of the murdered man has declared.
Led by Cllr Eddie Fullerton's son, the family were hosted by Sinn Féin's Cavan/Monaghan TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin and Dublin South West TD Seán Crowe during a visit to Leinster House yesterday.
Seeking cross-party support for a tribunal, they met Labour TD Joe Costello, the Green Party leader Trevor Sargent, and a number of Fianna Fáil senators, including Mary White, Francie O'Brien and Terry Leyden.
Four men wearing balaclavas broke into Eddie Fullerton's Buncrana home using a sledgehammer in May 1991 and shot him dead on the stairs landing.
The killers quickly escaped across the Border and the getaway car was found burned out next day at Culmore, Co Derry.Nobody has ever been prosecuted for the killing, one of eight murders of Sinn Féin representatives between 1989 and 1992.
The Minister for Justice Michael McDowell asked the Garda Commissioner to review the investigation file earlier this year, though it is understood the Police Service of Northern Ireland has not yet responded to the department's questions.
Speaking after the Leinster House meeting, Albert Fullerton, one of the dead man's sons, said the public is now "all well aware of the Garda corruption that has been exposed" in Donegal by the Morris tribunal. "We are here to impress on public representatives of all political persuasions the need for justice, not just for the family of Eddie Fullerton, but also for Eddie himself and the people that he represented as an elected member, but more so for society as a whole."
The family has complained bitterly for years about the quality of the Garda investigation into the councillor's death, particularly about the removal of files from the home on the night of the killing.
"The Garda did not set in place any protection around Eddie Fullerton even though he was under a death threat a year prior to the killing. They did not set out to catch the perpetrators of this deed. To me that is tantamount to collusion," Albert Fullerton complained yesterday.
