A special anniversary Mass will be held this weekend to remember a Co Donegal man shot dead by the RUC 50 years ago next week.
Michael Leonard (24) was shot after a car chase close to the Fermanagh and Donegal border between Pettigo and Belleek on May 17, 1973.
A ‘Remembering Michael’ event will also be held in Pettigo, Co Donegal, on Saturday.
Read More: New evidence in Michael Leonard RUC shooting case
At the time of his death police claimed that Mr Leonard, who was a disqualified driver, had failed to stop when he got into a car after leaving a shop and that a single shot was later fired during a chase.
New evidence later uncovered by research charity Paper Trail contradicted the single shot claim.
British army logs from the time reveal that a total of three shots were fired at the cattle dealer.
At a 1973 inquest an RUC inspector claimed that a policeman who held a rifle out of the passenger side of a pursuing Land Rover “accidentally snatched the trigger and discharged a round” after the vehicle “took a violent turn”.
None of the three officers involved appeared at the inquest, which returned a finding of misadventure.
New material, also contained in British army logs discovered by Paper Trail, makes no mention of an accidental shooting.
A British army situation report from May 18 1973 provides a military account of what happened.
It later emerged that an entry in a military log falsely claimed that Mr Leonard was a member of the IRA while a second claim made by a senior officer in a report also wrongly suggested that “he was known son of an IRA man (sic)”.
In recent years members of the Leonard family, including his cousin and campaigning Catholic priest Fr Joe McVeigh, have met with Irish government officials, including Tánaiste Micheál Martin in Dublin earlier this year.
Fr McVeigh repeated his call for a fresh inquest into Mr Leonard's death.
“This year, we are stepping up the campaign for truth and justice for Michael,” he said.
“Our first demand is for a new Inquest.
“This is now urgent because of the British government’s proposed legacy bill aimed to stop all inquests of victims of The Troubles.”
In a written reply to a Parliamentary Question Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty, Mr Martin said he recently wrote to Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris, bringing the case to his attention.
“It is essential that all families have access to an Article 2 compliant investigation into their loved one's death,” he said.
“The family's campaign for a further investigation into this killing is one example among many of the cases could be negatively impacted if the British government’s Legacy Bill is enacted.
“The prospect of no full hearing of the evidence in this case, including the effective cross examination of the facts, such as whether the determination in the original 1973 inquest was correct, is deeply upsetting to the family, as is the possibility that no Police Ombudsman investigation would take place.”
Ciarán MacAirt, of Paper Trail, will be the main speaker at the ‘Remembering Michael’ event on Saturday.
He said the “secret British army and RUC files” uncovered prove Mr Leonard was “deliberately targeted” before he “reached the sanctuary of the border and his home in Donegal”.
“The British armed forces then tried to criminalise Michael and blacken the good name of his family,” he said.
“But they failed.
“The family's dignified campaign over the last half century is testimony to their love of Michael."
Adrian O'Kane, of Patrick Fahy and Co Solicitors, said the Leonard family "are within touching distance of independent investigation into Michael's death, which has always been denied to them".
"To further deprive them of justice now would be cruel and justice cannot be denied to the Leonard family for eternity," he said.
The Mass for Mr Leonard will be held in St Mary’s Church, Pettigo, on Saturday, May 13 at 7.30pm.
It will be followed by refreshments and a ‘Remembering Michael’ event in Pettigo/Termon Community Centre.
