THE Labour TD for Sligo Leitrim, Mr Declan Bree, has called for a full inquiry into the disappearance of Department of Justice files on Jim Gralton, a socialist from Co Leitrim who was deported by the Fianna Fail government in 1933.
Mr Bree has claimed that Fianna Fail while in government "may have destroyed the file in question" because it wished to "have this sordid and despicable part of its past buried".
A Fianna Fail spokesman dismissed Mr Bree's claim as "outlandish and unfounded" and challenged him to produce evidence to back it up.
Mr Gralton (1886-1945) was a native of Effernagh, near Gowel, Co Leitrim. He became active in the labour movement and an associate of James Larkin and Liam Mellows.
He became a US citizen but returned to Ireland where he became involved in land agitation in his native Leitrim. This brought him into conflict with the clergy.
A deportation order was issued ordering Mr Gralton to leave Ireland as "an undesirable alien" before March 5th, 1933. He went "on the run" but was arrested on August 10th and brought to Cobb where he was put on board a vessel for the US. He died in New York on December 29th. 1945.
Mr Bree had tabled a parliamentary question to the Minister for Justice asking that the file be made available for public inspection.
In reply, Mrs Owen said that, despite an intensive search, her Department had been unable to locate the file. "It is possible that such a file is held in storage by the National Archives but my Department has been advised that all attempts by that office to locate it have also so far proved to be fruitless." Mr Bree said he was informed by the National Archives that "other files in that series were transferred to us many years ago but that file is not in its place.
Mr Bree described Gralton's deportation as "one of the most vile and cruel actions ever taken by a native Irish government".