Since 17th May 1973 when Michael Leonard (24yrs) from County Donegal was shot dead
by the RUC, there have been 15 governments in office in Dublin -7 led by Fine Gael and 8
led by Fianna Fail. Until our recent meeting on Friday 24th February 2023 with the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin, I do not remember any Irish Taoiseach or government Minister expressing concern about the circumstances surrounding the murder of Michael Leonard by the RUC in County Fermanagh on 17th May 1973.
The only TD who did express concern at the time was the late Neil T. Blaney. He was
told that he was ‘crying crocodile tears’ by the Fine Gael Minister for Justice Paddy Cooney TD.
Michael was an Irish citizen living in Tievemore, Pettigo, Co Donegal who was on
his way home after going to a shop in Letter, Co Fermanagh for some groceries for his
mother.
In order to justify Michael’s murder, the RUC and the British propaganda machine (based in
St, Angelo, Enniskillen) immediately concocted a story stating that Michael and his
father were both “members of the PIRA.” They also stated that he drove through an RUC
checkpoint and refused to stop.
The RUC told the family and the media that its unit had only fired one shot and that it was accidentally fired. Nevertheless, the secret British army and RUC files prove that the RUC killers had fired three deliberate, aimed shots including the fatal final round.
There was a long delay in getting the wounded Michael to a hospital as the British armed forces kept him on the roadside and denied access to neighbours who had stopped and wanted to give him help.
The British propaganda story worked, as intended, because the Dublin government at the time and until recently refused to show any concern for someone who was labelled a member of PIRA after he was shot by the RUC.
The original Inquest in October 1973, which I attended, heard an RUC sergeant who was not present at the shooting state that Michael’s death was accidental. We were told that an RUC officer triggered his gun accidentally when the land-rover pursuing Michael’s car hit a bump on the road. The Coroner, Mr Hanna, returned a verdict of “death by misadventure.” He accepted the word of the RUC Sergeant. No questions were allowed. None of the RUC personnel involved were present to give evidence.
Fifty years after Michael’s murder, Michael’s family is calling on the present FG/FF/Green
coalition government to demand that the British government provide a fresh Inquest
into the murder of Michael so that the family can have the truth about how Michael died on
the evening of 17th May 1973.
A new Inquest needs to be announced before the British government’s Legacy Bill becomes
law some time before the end of May. Those RUC men involved must be compelled to give
evidence.
Michael’s 50th Anniversary and Remembering Event takes place in Pettigo on 13th May and
at his grave in Lettercran on 17th May.
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The old ‘drove through an RUC’ roadblock ‘ story.