In a joint statement on the McBrearty case, the Opposition parties today called for a sworn judicial inquiry into the matter in order to restore public confidence in the Garda.
Fine Gael, Labour and the Green Party joined voices this afternoon saying "it is time to establish the full facts and the whole truth" about the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr Richie Barron and the subsequent Garda investigation.
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Mr Richie Barron
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Five years ago Mr Barron’s body was found on a roadside in Raphoe, Co Donegal. Nobody has yet been prosecuted with any offence relating to his death.
The McBrearty family of Tullyrap, Raphoe, say they came under unfavourable attention from the Garda following the discovery of Mr Barron's body.
Earlier this month Mr Frank McBrearty secured leave from the High Court to take an action to compel the Garda Commissioner to investigate allegations of perjury by five Garda officers.
A lawyer for the McBrearty family today said they would be prepared to put those cases on hold if the Government agreed to an inquiry.
In a joint statement the Opposition parties said a cloud hung over the Garda Síochána in Co Donegal.
The statement highlighted the admission by the Minister for Justice, "for the first time last week" that he had received a request for the exhumation of Mr Barron’s body in October 1997.
It said: "what Mr O’Donoghue failed to explain to the Dáil were the circumstances surrounding a request, made six days later by a Garda member, that the exhumation order be put on hold indefinitely.
"In the public interest and in the cause of justice, a full sworn public inquiry at the earliest opportunity is now imperative".
An opposition motion calling for an inquiry will be debated in the Dáil tomorrow.