An independent examination of a garda review into the death of a priest 30 years ago in Co Offaly has found a further inquiry would not be warranted.
Fr Niall Molloy was found dead in the home of Richard and Therese Flynn in Clara on 8 July 1985.
Mr Flynn was subsequently acquitted of manslaughter.
The Garda Serious Crime Review Team carried out a review of the case following a report in the Irish Independent in 2010 that witnesses who had information were not properly investigated and the trial had been irregular.
A file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions who directed no prosecutions were warranted.
Following continued concerns expressed, the Government commissioned Senior Counsel Dominic McGinn to review the latest garda investigation
The Minister for Justice today published that report which recommends that a further inquiry is not warranted.
Frances Fitzgerald said in a statement that she acknowledges the tragic death of Fr Molloy "who was loved by family and community".
She said she accepts the report may come as a disappointment to the Molloy family but said it is not always possible to find answers for families whose loved ones die in violent circumstances.
Mr McGinn concluded in his report that although questions remain unanswered, the precise events surrounding Fr Molloy's death cannot now be ascertained.
He said that given the passage of time, the death of many of the pertinent witnesses and the reluctance of others to give evidence, further inquiry would unlikely have a reasonable prospect of establishing the truth.
The McGinn Report concludes that there are extremely unusual if not unique features of the case, many of which are disturbing and would merit in depth inquiry.
Among the questions that remain unanswered are the time of death and the interval between Fr Molloy sustaining his injuries and death with estimates varying from three to as much as 24 hours.
The report also says the significant delay in calling the authorities also remains unexplained and it appears that the only people who could offer credible evidence in order to explain the delay are either dead, too infirm to speak about it or are unwilling to divulge what happened.
It also says the calm attitude of Mr Flynn when gardaí arrived at the Flynn's home - Kilcoursey House - is a feature which many would find inexplicable.
The report says the fact that the business dealings between Fr Molloy and the Flynns were not revealed to gardaí at the outset of the investigation is suspicious and points out that in light of the confession made on a number of occasions by Mr Flynn to inflicting violence on Fr Molloy, the directed acquittal of Mr Flynn at his trial was extraordinary.
That decision is not subject to review, the judge has since died and it is highly unlikely that any concrete conclusions could be reached.
The garda file relating to Fr Molloy's death was stolen from the DPP's office in 1987 but the report says there is no evidence that it was targeted; it may serve to fuel speculation but the actual consequences of the theft seem less dramatic.
The report also refers to anonymous letters which it says give rise to a huge amount of conjecture - some of the matters in them have been shown to be unreliable, the remainder suffer from lack of corroboration.
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