BREAKING: Ex-Army lieutenant Dónal deRóiste has name cleared after 53-year campaign

The family of Dónal de Róiste wholeheartedly welcome the findings, presented to Cabinet on Wednesday, of the Review into the circumstances of his "forced retirement" in 1969, from the Defence Forces when he was a Lieutenant.

The family also are profoundly grateful for the announcement by the Minister for Defence Simon Coveney for his apology to Dónal for the distress and upset suffered by him over the years.

In a statement, Dónal's sister - the well-known humanitarian Adi Roche, said: "These welcome developments result from a decision by the Government in May 2020 to authorise a Review into the circumstances of the enforced retirement of Dónal de Róiste from the Defence Forces.

"The family has campaigned for five decades for justice to be done and for truth to prevail in order that Dónal’s good name be cleared after 53 years.

"The investigative journalism of Don Mullan was and remains central to uncovering the truth over decades."

The Government has decided to formally exonerate Dónal de Róiste, who was forced to retire from the Defence Forces more than 50 years ago, from any wrongdoing, to apologise and to pay him compensation.

A former lieutenant in the Irish Army, Mr de Róiste was retired by then President Éamon de Valera, acting on the advice of the Government in 1969.

Mr de Róiste was never officially told the grounds for his forced retirement but his maternal uncle, Patrick Murphy, who was an assistant secretary in the Department of Defence in 1969, told him it was because of links with subversives.

Preview reviews of the case established that military intelligence had linked him to an IRA splinter group at the time called Saor Éire, but no charges were ever brought against him and no opportunity to answer the allegations was given to him.

Mr de Róiste subsequently emigrated to the US after he left the Defence Forces but returned to Ireland in the 1980s and has been trying to clear his name since, an effort that has included legal challenges.

His sister is the founder of the Chernobyl children’s charity, Adi Roche, and questions about Mr de Róiste’s case were raised when she ran for the presidency for the Labour Party in 1997.

The Roche family said: "We are profoundly grateful for today’s publication of the review report and the announcement of the apology to Dónal, finally bringing closure to this dreadful miscarriage of justice. 

"All our family have ever wanted was for Dónal’s good name and character, and the good name of our family, to be restored. 

"As the review report has found, our brother was denied a fair process in 1969, there was no charge, no trial, no conviction and for 53 years we have fought for justice to be done. 

"Our parents, and our mother Christine in particular, fought tirelessly over many years for Dónal’s innocence to be declared."

Dónal deRóiste said in response to the announcement: "My family and I are happy that my good name has been restored.

"I want to thank my family, friends and my legal team, Eamonn Carroll Solicitor and Gerard Humphreys Barrister and Don Mullan who never gave up, who always believed in my innocence and who supported me for many years. 

"I had never dared to hope that this day would ever come and now that it has, I feel a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.  

"Sincerest gratitude to our President, Michael D Higgins, who believed me when others didn’t and for his help with calling for the establishing of this Review."

His sister Adi Roche said: "My brother Dónal’s life has been shattered by a wrongful decision made by the Irish Government in 1969. 

"Our family were left with years of pain and incomprehension by that decision; that took away his integrity, his good character, his good name, and that of our family. 

"We have suffered over all these years without any redress of justice until now. Dónal is now free to walk tall and walk proud as he is now, finally, free of that dark shadow of blame and wrongful arrest and dismissal from the Army.

"I want to echo our gratitude to everyone who stood with us over the years in Ireland, the United States and many other countries, friends, activists, public representatives, journalists and fellow campaigners who believed Dónal, believed us as a family."

The Minister for Defence, Simon Coveney, has accepted the conclusions of the review report received from Mr Beirne SC.

The Minister acknowledges that notwithstanding the standards and circumstances that prevailed in 1969, the Review has concluded that Mr Dónal de Róiste’s retirement was made on foot of a fundamentally flawed and unfair process and was not in accordance with law.

He went on to say that: "Clearly, the security situation in Ireland in 1969 was far different than what it is today.

"However, whilst a decision to retire Mr de Róiste from the Defence Forces in these circumstances, and on the basis of the documentation considered at the time, was found by the Reviewer to be reasonable, the Review has determined that no national security concerns should have prevented Mr de Róiste from being afforded the most basic procedures of natural justice and the right to defend himself and his good name. In this regard, the Review has concluded that Mr de Róiste’s dismissal was not in accordance with law."

The statement added: "The Minister apologises for the distress and upset suffered over the years by Mr de Róiste.

"A settlement, the terms of which are confidential to the parties, has been agreed with Mr de Róiste.

"The Minister wishes to acknowledge also the long-standing interest that President Higgins has taken in Mr de Róiste’s case.

 "The Minister concluded by offering his thanks to Mr Niall Beirne SC, who conducted the review."

Mr Donal de Róiste was retired by the President, acting on the advice of the Government, with effect from 27 June 1969, in accordance with section 47(2) of the Defence Acts 1954 and Section 18(1)(f) of Defence Force Regulation A.15. 

High Court proceedings taken by Mr de Róiste in November 1998 taken in relation to the circumstances of his retirement were rejected in June 1999 on grounds of inordinate delay. 

The Supreme Court upheld the High Court decision in January 2001 on foot of an appeal lodged in September 1999. 

The Minister for Defence ordered a review of documentation in Mr de Róiste’s case by the Judge Advocate General of the Defence Forces in July 2002.

The report of the Judge Advocate General was subsequently quashed by the High Court in 2005 on the grounds that Mr de Róiste had not been afforded fair procedures in the review.

The judgment concluded that the decision made in 1969 to recommend the Applicant’s retirement from the Defence Forces was unaffected by this finding.

In 2010, Seanad Éireann adopted a resolution which included a provision that the Government would ask the Judge Advocate General to select a nominee to carry out another review of the documentation on Mr. de Róiste’s file. Terms of reference for a review were drafted from the wording of the Seanad resolution but were not acceptable to Mr de Róiste.

Since then, a number of attempts have been made to agree revised terms of reference for a review, that were acceptable to all parties and this was achieved in 2020.

On foot of this, the Government authorised a review of Mr de Róiste’s case. The then Minister with Responsibility for Defence, Paul Kehoe TD  appointed Mr Niall Beirne SC to conduct the review with the following terms of reference;

1.      Carry out a review of all relevant documentation relating to Mr de Róiste’s case to determine whether, on the basis of the documentation available to the Defence Forces at the time, the decision to compulsorily retire Mr de Róiste was reasonable and in accordance with law.

2.      Ensure that Mr de Róiste has been provided with all relevant documentation, relating to the circumstances of his retirement, which is to form the basis of the review.

3.      Afford Mr de Róiste with an opportunity, within such reasonable time limits as may be determined by him/her, to be interviewed and make written submissions based on that documentation.

4.      Interview any other person and/or request written submissions as he or she sees fit having regard to all the circumstances and in the interests of fairness to both Mr. de Róiste and the Defence Forces.

5.      Having considered the documentation and the submissions, complete a report containing his/her determination and the reasons therefore and submit the report to the Minister within three months of the date of his/her appointment or at the earliest opportunity thereafter. 

The report of the Reviewer was received in June 2022, and discussions were entered into immediately with Mr de Róiste and his legal adviser on its conclusions.