Why Government Apologies Matter

For many families who have spent decades fighting for the truth, a state apology is not a symbolic afterthought it is the outcome they have fought hardest for. An apology often follows years of inquests, inquiries and litigation that force a state to confront what it did, and what it failed to do.

Phoenix Law has secured formal State apologies for families and survivors in three of the most significant public inquiries and inquests in recent Irish and British history: the Stardust fire, the Bill Kenneally abuse case, victims of Historical Institutional Abuse and the Ballymurphy Massacre. In addition, Phoenix Law achieved formal apologies from the Chief Constable of the Police Service in the Hooded Men case and the Reavey Brothers murder case after litigation. Each apology followed years, in some cases decades, of campaigning by the families themselves.

Stardust – Irish Government

Forty-eight young people died in the Stardust nightclub fire in Dublin on 13 February 1981. For over four decades, their families fought against a finding of arson that unjustly cast suspicion on those who died. In April 2024, fresh inquests returned verdicts of unlawful killing for all 48 victims. Five days later, Taoiseach Simon Harris delivered a formal state apology in Dáil Éireann, with the families present in the gallery.

“Today we say formally and without any equivocation, we are sorry. We failed you when you needed us the most… As Taoiseach, on behalf of the State, I apologise unreservedly to all the families of the Stardust victims and all the survivors for the hurt that was done to them and for the profoundly painful years of struggle for the truth.” Taoiseach Simon Harris, Dáil Éireann, 23 April 2024

Darragh Mackin, Harry Robinson, Diarmuid Brecknell and Colm Dore of Phoenix Law represented the victims throughout the process.

Victims of Bill Kenneally – Irish Government

Bill Kenneally, a former swimming and basketball coach in Waterford, abused boys over more than a decade after gardaí were made aware of his conduct in 1987 but failed to arrest him. A Commission of Investigation led by Mr Justice Michael White found this to be a clear and serious dereliction of duty by An Garda Síochána. On 14 July 2026, Taoiseach Micheál Martin delivered a formal state apology to the survivors in Dáil Éireann.

“As Taoiseach I apologise unreservedly, on behalf of the State, to the victims of Bill Kenneally for what was a clear and serious dereliction of duty. No words from Government can make up for the theft of childhood from so many young boys, for the appalling abuse they suffered, and the enormous trauma they have experienced in their lives as a result.” Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Dáil Éireann, 14 July 2026

Darragh Mackin and Diarmuid Brecknell of Phoenix Law acted for the survivors throughout the Commission of Investigation and secured the apology on their behalf.

Victims of Historical Institutional Abuse – NI

The Northern Ireland Executive established an Inquiry into abuse in residential homes, known as the Historical institutional Abuse Inquiry. The report and findings was published on 20 January 2017: the Hart Report.

On Friday 11 March 2022 Ministers Michelle McIlveen, Conor Murphy, Nichola Mallon, Robin Swann and Naomi Long offered a public apology to victims and survivors of historical institutional abuse in the Assembly Chamber at Parliament Buildings.

The apology was followed by statements from each of the institutions where systemic failings were found in the Hart Report: De La Salle Order, Sisters of Nazareth, Good Shepherd Sisters, Sisters of St. Louis, Barnardo’s and Irish Church Missions.

Claire McKeegan of Phoenix Law acted for the victims.

Ballymurphy Massacre – British Government

Ten people were killed by the British Army in Ballymurphy, Belfast, during internment operations in August 1971. In May 2021, following a nine-year campaign by the families, the coroner Mrs Justice Siobhan Keegan ruled that all ten victims were entirely innocent. Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologised unreservedly on behalf of the state to the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, an apology reaffirmed to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Brandon Lewis.

“The Prime Minister is writing personally to the families, having yesterday expressed his deep regret to the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland and apologised unreservedly on behalf of the state.” Secretary of State Brandon Lewis, House of Commons, 13 May 2021

Darragh Mackin represented the family of Joseph Murphy at the Inquest.

The importance of an apology

Each of these cases shows the same pattern: families and victims denied the truth for years, and in some cases decades, before a state was finally compelled to acknowledge its failures publicly and unreservedly. An apology does not undo the harm, but it does something a settlement cannot it puts on the public record, in the state’s own words, that the families were right all along.

That acknowledgement is often what victims and families say they wanted most.