Family of Aoife Johnston repeat call for statutory inquiry on second anniversary of her death

The family's solicitor, Damien Tansey, said that Aoife's family is seeking answers and accountability. He believes that a statutory inquiry is the only authority with the necessary resources to provide these answers.

“The State has failed the Johnston family. To date, no answers have been forthcoming," he told RTÉ radio's Morning Ireland. According to Mr Tansey, the "most revealing" of all the processes so far has been the inquest, in which a verdict of medical misadventure was returned at Limerick Coroner's Court in April.

"But there are very severe restrictions on what an inquest can do in terms of finding fault, and in terms of vindicating anybody.

“So the very least the Johnston family are entitled to, given the failure of the State to vindicate and protect the life of their daughter, is to provide a process of the kind that will produce answers,” he said. 

Mr Tansey acknowledged that a number of attempts had been made to provide answers, including the Hamilton Report, and then the inquiry by retired Chief Justice Frank Clarke. In September, he found that Aoife’s death was almost certainly avoidable.

However, according to Mr Tansey, even Mr Clarke himself “at the outset of his report, had indicated that he couldn't make, for example, findings of fact, he couldn't make adverse findings and he couldn't even resolve conflict where there were conflicting accounts from people that were involved in this tragedy at the coalface."

Mr Tansey went on to say that "there was no reason why" a statutory inquiry into Aoife's death should take years, as previously claimed.

"This inquiry won't be in public.  It will simply be a statutory inquiry where the chairman will be entitled to call witnesses, to subpoena witnesses, to take evidence in circumstances where the people in focus will have the opportunity to challenge the evidence,” Mr Tansey explained.

He also said that all processes involving the family "are now at an end".

“We're awaiting a decision on the part of the new government to conduct a statutory inquiry, and so that there is no doubt about this the Johnston family will meet the new Minister for Health and or the Taoiseach to indicate what their requirements are in relation to that inquiry.”