Coffey calls on Adams to pologise for murder of Eamon Ryan

Wednesday, 6th February 2013

Fine Gael Waterford Deputy, Paudie Coffey, has called on the Leader of Sinn Fein, Gerry Adams, to apologise for the murder of Mr Eamon Ryan in Tramore, county Waterford in 1979. Deputy Coffey made the call after the Sinn Fein Leader apologised to the family of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe in the Dáil last Tuesday week.

"Heinous crimes by evil people have unfortunately always been part of the social fabric of Ireland. Thankfully, however, these crimes are perpetrated by a small minority of people who are few and far between. This week, with the murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe, who was a great servant of the people and of his community, we have seen that maliciousness still exists on our island and in society.

"Speaking in the Dáil on Tuesday of last week, Gerry Adams expressed a long overdue apology to the family of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe who was shot dead in the course of his duties in 1996 by armed republicans. I am calling on the Leader of Sinn Féin to follow on from this and extend the same courtesy to the family of Mr. Ryan.

"In August 1979, a young father was shot dead in cold blood in front of his three year old son in Tramore, county Waterford. Eamon Ryan was a civil servant working in the Department of Finance who happened to be in the AIB in Tramore that day and was shown no mercy by republican thugs.

"The getaway driver for the IRA was Mr. Bill Hayes, a Sinn Fein local area representative, who stood in the 2009 local elections for that Party. Mr. Hayes served nine years in jail for his part in the murder but, to date, no apology has been forthcoming from the republican leaders to the family of Eamon Ryan. Mr. Hayes was feted at a recent Sinn Féin Ard Fheis for having given outstanding service for the cause of Irish freedom; this is a monumental insult to the family of Mr. Ryan and to other victims of the IRA's criminality over the last number of decades.

"Although an apology will not bring Mr. Ryan back to his family, it would be welcomed nonetheless. Throughout the history of our nation, Sinn Féin has always taken a clinical attitude to the murder and destruction of innocent Irish civilians; this simply can no longer be tolerated. That is why I am calling on Deputy Adams to apologise to Mr. Ryan's family for the role one of his Party's representatives had in the destruction and devastation of a family in county Waterford 34 years ago."