British MOD Agrees to Release 
Contentious Files

The British Ministry of Defence has finally agreed to provide a Northern Ireland coroner investigating 10 contentious killings, including those of seven IRA men, full access to documents and video footage relating to the cases. 

A recent High Court case in Belfast on an unrelated but similar case ordered police to hand over unedited documents relating to the deaths of two IRA men. 

East Tyrone coroner Mr Roger McLernon told a preliminary inquest into the 10 killings that following the High Court ruling it had been agreed the British Ministry of Defence it would provide him with ccess to unedited documents and video footage which related to some of the killings. 

Attempts to hold the inquests into the deaths in the early 1990s had been dogged by legal argument over security force disclosure of documents and the case has been adjourned on more than a dozen occasions. 

The coroner told today's hearing in Dungannon that it would take him up to two months to study the thousands of pages of unedited documents, and he adjourned the case until March 16th. 

He said he would decide what material was relevant to the cases and should be made public to the families and their legal representatives. 

McLernon said it would be open to the Police Service of Northern Ireland or the Ministry of Defence to challenge his decisions on the grounds of public interest immunity. 

He said there was a balancing exercise to be undertaken but it would be him and not the High Court that would decide initially on the relevance of information. 

Speaking after the case the Sinn FÈin MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, Ms Michelle Gildernew, said today's announcement amounted to "limited progress". 

She said: "My concern is that the British have been involved in a culture of concealment and the Ministry of Defence can still argue for public immunity, that the families will still not be getting the full details about the deaths of their loved ones." 

Mr Christie Mallon, nephew of Mrs Roseanne Mallon who was killed by loyalists in 1992, said he still doubted whether they would still get to the truth. 

Róisín Uí Mhuirí, sister of IRA man Kevin Barry O'Donnell who was shot dead by the SAS at Clonoe, Co Tyrone, in 1992, said that in theory today's announcement was good news but she too expressed concerns about the coroner deciding what was relevant or not. "We might still need a public inquiry to get to the truth," she said. 

The following is a list of the cases of the ten people who were killed by loyalist or British security forces and whose deaths are under investigation at Dungannon Coroner's Court. 

The cases under consideration are the Loyalist murder of Catholic pensioner Roseanne Mallon, 76, 10 years ago and uncle and nephew Jack and Kevin McKearney in 1992. 

Mrs Mallon was killed by the UVF at her sister-in-law's home in Dungannon. A legal battle over evidence began after it emerged the house had been under surveillance by under-cover soldiers at the time of the killing. Arguments centered on access to soldiers' logs books and video footage. 

The McKearney's were killed by loyalist gunmen as they worked in the family butcher's shop at Moy, County Tyrone. 

The IRA men died at the hands of the SAS in two separate incidents and it is believed that at least one of them was video taped. 

Four volunteers, Kevin Barry O'Donnell, Patrick Vincent, Sean O'Farrell and Peter Clancy were shot dead by the SAS at Clonoe, County Tyrone in 1992. 

Three more Peter Ryan, Tony Doras and Lawrence McNally were killed at Coagh, County Tyrone in 1991 when SAS soldiers fired up to 200 shots at a stolen car they were travelling in. 

Both incidents have been plagued by allegations of a "shoot-to-kill policy" operated by the British security forces.