Review of response to soldier's death

Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea has appointed Sean Hurley to carry out an independent review of the "interaction" between the Department of Defence and the family of Pte Kevin Barrett, who died while serving as a UN peacekeeper in Lebanon in 1999.

Mr Hurley , a former chief executive of the Garda Síochána Complaints Board, will carry out the review of how the family was treated in the years since Pte Barrett's death.

Mr Hurley, who previously served in the Office of the Ombudsman, will complete the review and report back to the Minister before Christmas.

"I want to ensure that appropriate lessons are learnt for the future," Mr O'Dea said.

He is also waiting to receive a transcript of the inquest last month into Pte Barrett's death, which resulted in an open verdict, before deciding what further action to take on the case.

The transcript is expected to be received within the next fortnight.

Pte Barrett's family have been informed of the review. The family's lawyer Kyran McGinley welcomed "the swift action the Minister has taken to deal with at least one leg of this case, the manner in which the family was treated".

Mr McGinley added, however, that "the second and most important leg is a thorough reinvestigation of the circumstances of Kevin's death, given the open verdict in the inquest".

He said that "what is paramount to the family is how Kevin died".

Pte Barrett (21) from Letterkenny, Co Donegal, died in February 1999 in a shooting incident in Lebanon, fatally wounded by his own gun.

The family was originally told he had died as a result of an accident.

But after a lengthy campaign, six years after his death a public inquest was held in Letterkenny, the first of its kind, and a unanimous open verdict was recorded.

He had been serving in an outpost at Brashid in south Lebanon as part of the 84th infantry battalion.

During the inquest soldiers told of rumours circulating at camp concerning homosexuality.

They spoke of drinking and of playing "chicken" with rifles.

After the inquest the family said that more questions needed to be answered.

The Minister met Mr Barrett's mother, Helen Barrett, earlier this month.

He apologised to her for the way her family had been treated by the Department and the Defence Forces in the years since her son's death. An undertaker was highly critical of the condition in which the remains were returned.

Mr O'Dea, who described Mr Hurley as a man of "high calibre and experience", said he was "confident no stone will be left unturned when Mr Hurley conducts his review".

Mr Hurley was previously president of the International Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement.