Tuohey family wants inquiry report published

The family of Shane Tuohey, whose body was taken from the River Brosna in Clara 22 years ago, have called for a report into the investigation into his death to be published.

An inquest into his death ruled he had died from drowning, though the family believe he was the victim of an assault that night. Twenty-three-year-old Shane Tuohey went missing in February 2002 after a night out in Clara and his body was discovered a week later.

An independent ‘Section 42’ inquiry was established in 2017 by then Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald into the conduct and adequacy of the investigations conducted by the Garda Síochána into the death of Shane Tuohey.

The inquiry concluded last year and Judge Michael Coghlan submitted his final report to the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee and to the office of the Attorney General, on July 5, 2023.

The Tuohey family, who did not have the right of legal representation at the inquiry, have now urged the Minister to publish the report.

“At the end of the day, surely we are entitled to a full report, and Shane is entitled to a full report,” Shane's sister Gemma Tuohey Guinan told the Offaly Independent. Under the Garda Siochana Act 2005, the Minister may publish all or part of any report received.

A Freedom of Information request, submitted by Ms Tuohey Guinan, has found that the cost of the inquiry, as of January 2024, was over €928,000.

She said taxpayers who have had to foot the bill for the inquiry also deserve to see the report. “It needs to be published,” she said this week.

The inquiry was initially led by Judge Donagh McDonagh, who stepped down in 2021 due to personal reasons unrelated to the inquiry.

Freedom of Information details show that Judge McDonagh was paid €436,401. He was replaced in January 2022, by Judge Michael Coghlan, who was paid €146,013.

Jane Ferry BL, a barrister acting on behalf of the State during the inquiry, was paid €274,899.30.

Gemma Tuohey Guinan doesn't hold out much confidence either that the report will be published in full, or that it will meet their hopes.

She said her concerns are borne out by the fact they did not have the right to legal representation at the inquiry

“Who are they doing it for? It's certainly not for Shane's family,” she said, criticising what she said was her family's unsatisfactory level of involvement in the inquiry.

“We should be getting the report, we should have had a legal team, and we should have been involved,” she said.

Her father, Eamon, gave evidence for a day and a half and the Tuoheys submitted a list of 100 potential interviewees.

The family is also continuing to push for a new inquest, arguing that new evidence related to an assault on Shane on the night is available.

The establishment of the ‘Section 42’ inquiry in 2017 into the investigation of Shane's death arose on foot of a report by an Independent Review Mechanism, established in 2014, to look into some 320 allegations of garda misconduct or inadequacies in investigations. The Tuohey inquiry was one of five to emanate from the review mechanism.

The Offaly Independent asked the Department of Justice whether the Minister intended to publish the report into Shane Tuohey's death and, if so, when it would be published.

In response, the Department said: "Minister McEntee is acutely aware of the distress caused to the Tuohey family by the tragic death of Shane. In all the circumstances, it would not be appropriate to comment on the publication of Judge Coghlan’s report at this time."