Inquest into deaths of IRA men set for next September

By Dominic McGrath, PA

A full inquest into the killing of three IRA men in Co Tyrone in 1991 will begin next September, the coroner has ruled.

Mr Justice Michael Humphreys said today that the aim was for the full inquest to begin on September 12 2022 in Banbridge Courthouse.

Peter Ryan, Tony Doris and Lawrence McNally were killed by the SAS in an ambush in June 1991 as they travelled through Coagh in Co Tyrone.

At a pre-inquest review hearing today, he urged all parties to the inquest to keep to that date.

“It is very important we maintain that window,” the coroner warned.

“If for any reason we fall outside that window, we’ll only be competing with other hearings.”

“The very firm view of this tribunal is that those dates should be maintained and every possible effort will be expected from practitioners and from those engaged in this inquest generally to make sure they’re adhered to.”

“I obviously can’t legislate for every possible eventuality, but it would take something rather out of the ordinary to cause those dates to be interfered with,” he warned.

The coroner said that he would like any reviews of sensitive materials by the PSNI and the Ministry of Defence to be carried out by January 31.

He said that a “realistic date” for disclosure of both sensitive and non-sensitive material to the families involved, ahead of the inquest, should be the end of March.

He described it as a “target date”, which was agreed to be all parties.

The judge also acknowledged the lengthy nature of proceedings and the impact that may have on the disclosure of some material.

“The passage of time may allow some further disclosure to be made,” the coroner suggested.