The Irish government has decided to formally exonerate Dónal de Róiste, who was forced to retire from the Irish Defence Forces more than 50 years ago.
De Róiste battled for years to restore his reputation, at one point taking his campaign to the United States in a bid for Irish American support.
He is also to receive an apology and pay compensation.
The decision at Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting comes after a review which began more than two years ago into the circumstances of his forced retirement, the Irish Times reported.
De Róiste was a lieutenant when his army career was terminated.
De Róiste told the Irish Times in an interview that he could now walk with his head held high.
The government review concluded that Mr. de Róiste’s retirement was “made on foot of a fundamentally flawed and unfair process and was not in accordance with law," the Irish government said.
In a statement, Minister for Defence Simon Coveney said: “Clearly, the security situation in Ireland in 1969 was far different than what it is today. However, whilst a decision to retire Mr. de Róiste from the Defence Forces in these circumstances, and on the basis of the documentation considered at the time, was found by the reviewer to be reasonable, the review has determined that no national security concerns should have prevented Mr. de Róiste from being afforded the most basic procedures of natural justice and the right to defend himself.
“In this regard, the review has concluded that Mr. de Róiste’s dismissal was not in accordance with law.”
Mr. Coveney apologized to Mr. de Róiste. He also acknowledged the interest taken in the case over the years by President Michael D Higgins, the Times reported.
De Róiste has always denied any wrongdoing and had campaigned for decades to clear his name.
Mr. de Róiste was retired by then president Éamon de Valera, acting on the advice of the government in 1969.
He was never officially told the grounds for his forced retirement but his maternal uncle, Patrick Murphy, who was an assistant secretary in the Department of Defence in 1969, told him it was because of links with subversives.
Added the Times report: "Preview reviews of the case established that military intelligence had linked him to an IRA splinter group at the time called Saor Éire, but no charges were ever brought against him and no opportunity to answer the allegations was given to him.
"Mr. de Róiste subsequently emigrated to the US after he left the Defence Forces but returned to Ireland in the 1980s and has been trying to clear his name since, an effort that has included legal challenges."
His sister is the founder of the Chernobyl children’s charity and onetime Irish presidential candidate, Adi Roche. Questions about Mr. de Róiste’s case were raised when she ran for the presidency for the Labour Party in 1997. She actively supported her brother's campaign in the U.S. That campaign was launched by de Róiste in New York.
According to an Echo report at the time he did so during a press conference at the Irish Arts Center in Manhattan "with some big guns at his side, among them author and journalist Don Mullan, a groundbreaking investigator into the hidden circumstances surrounding both Bloody Sunday and the 1974 Dublin-Monaghan bombings."
Stated the Echo report: "De Roiste, a lieutenant in 1969, was 'retired' from the Irish army 'in the interests of the service.' He was never told why he had been dismissed, never allowed to answer any charges or face any accusers. The formal retirement order came from then President Eamon de Valera.
"De Roiste, who uses the Irish language form of his Roche family name, is now more determined than ever to get to the bottom of a story that is about him, but mostly unknown to him.
"Along with friends and supporters, he formed the Donal de Roiste Truth Project. The campaign is based in Harrisburg, Pa., where de Roiste’s ex-wife and two children now live.
"De Roiste’s family, especially his son Dara, is strongly supportive of his effort to clear his name.
"De Roiste claims that he was victimized because he refused to lie in order to cover for a senior officer responsible for almost killing a civilian in a drunk-driving accident. Whether or not this claim has merit would become quickly apparent if the de Roiste files were made public.
"But successive Irish governments have declined to do this on the grounds of national security.
Court efforts have also proved unsuccessful.
"In mounting a campaign in the U.S., de Roiste has enlisted the help of a former Irish army officer, Commandant (Major) Patrick Walshe and also William Geary, the now 103-year-old Queens resident and former member of the Garda Siochana who had his good name restored by the Irish government in 1999 after spending a lifetime denying a charge of accepting a bribe from the IRA in 1928, a charge that led to his dismissal from the force.
"De Roiste is also being supported by actor Gabriel Byrne who attended the Arts Center press briefing.
De Roiste told the Echo that when he attempted to secure U.S. citizenship he was denied because he could not explain to the INS why he had been dismissed from the army.
"His sister Adi said her brother had been effectively sentenced to a form of life imprisonment with parole.
“It could all be ended with the stroke of a pen,” she told the Echo.
Now it has.
