Sean O’Brien has been seeking accountability from the State since 1991.
The Court of Appeal will hear a legal challenge today from a former prison officer who was shot at by Irish Army personnel while trying to prevent a prisoner escaping from Portlaoise Prison almost 40 years ago.
Sean O'Brien has been pursuing accountability for the State since 1991 when he launched a civil litigation case which was subject to a number of delays and disruptions.
The Irish Examiner is reporting Mr O'Brien's case is expected to serve as a test-case to establish who is entitled to participate in a Defence Forces Tribunal of Inquiry.
Mr O’Brien is seeking to challenge the tribunal’s decision to exclude his complaint about the shooting in May 1988.
At the time, he was working at Portlaoise Prison when Provisional IRA prisoner Patrick McVeigh attempted to escape.
Mr O’Brien says army personnel stationed on the roof fired five subsonic rounds close to him, leaving him with chronic and disabling post-traumatic stress disorder.
His employment with the Irish Prison Service was terminated the following year, in 1989, on the grounds of absenteeism.
He was left without pay or pension.
After his failed civil litigation case he submitted a witness statement to the Defence Forces Tribunal of Inquiry in December 2024.
He wanted answers about the absence of an internal military investigation into the shooting and the alleged suppression of his complaints.
However, the tribunal ruled that his case fell outside its terms of reference, stating that complaints could only be made by serving or former members of the Defence Forces, or by civil servants and civilian employees of the Department of Defence.
Mr O’Brien argues that, as a prison officer working alongside military personnel and as a victim of the alleged shooting, he has a sufficient connection to the Defence Forces to warrant inclusion in the inquiry.
False Leg And Giant Papier-Mâché Chicken Among Bizarre Items Left At Center Parcs
Enoch Burke Ordered Back To Prison For Breaching Court Order
Civil Defence Volunteers’ Welfare Under Scrutiny In Leinster House
Westmeath Care Centre Found Non-Compliant In HIQA Inspection
HSE Bringing BreastCheck Screening Service To Laois
Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day To Be Marked In Offaly
Laois Senator And Family Left Shaken After Attempted Car Theft At Their Home
Westmeath Woman Recovering Well After Major US Cancer Operation