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Family 'back at square one' over Real IRA killing inquest delays

BBC A man stares at the camera. He has short dark hair and is wearing glasses. He is stood in front of a plain backgroundBBC
Kieran Doherty was killed by members of his own organisation

The family of a Real IRA man murdered by fellow members in 2010 have said that delays to an inquest into his killing have left them feeling like they are "back at square one".

The body of Kieran Doherty, 31, was found dumped on the Braehead Road, Londonderry, on 24 February 2010.

At a pre-inquest hearing on Tuesday, a barrister for his family said they were no further forward in securing information from authorities in the Republic of Ireland.

The Irish government's silence on what material it held in relation to the killing, the barrister said, was either "through incompetence or deliberate".

Kieran Doherty was kidnapped by members of his own organisation in Derry in 2010.

He was stripped, bound and shot dead before his body was dumped on the outskirts of the city, near the Irish border.

The dissident republican group, the Real IRA, said it killed him.

Two men stand in a field in front of a wall. They are wearing white forensic suits. A tent can be seen behind them.
Mr Doherty's body was found dumped on the Braehead Road

'No further forward'

The family's barrister was reacting to a letter received from Ireland's Chief State Solicitor's office in which they referred to witness evidence as opposed to information which they had been asked for.

A counsel for the coroner told the hearing the lack of information from the Irish authorities was the "chief impediment" to the inquest moving forward.

The Doherty family barrister said after "seven and a half years of letters and hearings" they were no further forward in securing this information.

The barrister said that there was a pattern with the Irish government withholding information in a number of other case including that of murdered GAA official Sean Brown, the Dublin/Monaghan bombings case and in relation to the Omagh bombing inquiry.

The Doherty family, he said, had been waiting 15 years for the truth, "with the British government and MI5 (the Security Service) at one end and the Irish government, who can't even tell us what information they possess, at the other."

Coroner Brian Sherrard said the sense of frustration was obvious.

He suggested that there might be some merit in asking a representative of the Irish authorities to come and address the hearing to explain their position.

Mr Sherrard further suggested that he would write to the Chief State Solicitor, making clear what they were requesting.

The hearing was adjourned and another preliminary hearing will be held on 7 May.