Councillors have rejected a call to correct the Dáil record regarding what happened in the Ballyseedy Massacre.
Sinn Féin councillors Deirdre Ferris and Robert Beasley both brought motions on the issue before the monthly meeting of Kerry County Council.
Both Sinn Féin councillors called for the Irish Government to acknowledge that the deaths of the eight Republican prisoners at Ballyseedy in March 1923 was a deliberate action by the Free State forces and not as a result of a Republican booby-trapped roadblock, which has been the official account to date.
John O’Shea, a relative of George O’Shea who was one of those killed at Ballyseedy, was present in Kerry County Council Chambers for the discussion.
Members of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael spoke on the issue and all accepted what happened at Ballyseedy was an atrocity.
Cllr Ferris called for the Dáil record to be corrected, while her party colleague Councillor Robert Beasley stated it was an important issue, called for recognition and truth and told members of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael that they’d had ample time to correct the record while in Government.
Fianna Fáil councillor Fionnán Fitzgerald stated he opposed the motion, but stated the Civil War needed to be recognised in its totality, adding it wasn’t responsible to zone in on one event.
Fine Gael’s Jim Finucane stated a terrible atrocity took place in Ballyseedy but stated history is there to teach not to alter; he stated the advice of the expert group on the decade of commemorations should be followed which to adopt a conciliatory tone.
Fine Gael's Patrick O'Connor-Scarteen stated singling out any event on either side would be a retrograde step, while Fianna Fáil's Norma Moriarty stated she believed people knew the truth of Ballyseedy and felt an there was a change now for reconciliation, but said that can't be done through one event.
Cllr Ferris stated she wasn’t saying one side suffered more than the other, stating it was a civil war and there’s no winner in a civil war.
A vote took place on the matter and the Sinn Féin proposal was defeated; 17 voted against, seven voted for it and five councillors abstained from voting while four were absent.
