Investigating people's lives isn't always as glamorous as it appears on television. Sleuthing Irish style takes a lot of patience - and a naturally secretive nature, writes Niamh Kavanagh

The offices of Castle Detective Agency (CDA) in Cork city are a business address only, a front. The real work is carried out elsewhere. The files aren't kept there, it's just safer that way.

"In many ways, we don't exist; we're invisible," says Sean Humphries, hunching his hulking frame over a restaurant table, talking earnestly, in a confidential tone.

Humphries and his colleague John Fogarty are nothing like stereotype private detectives. Fogarty, tall, thin, watchful, and casually dressed, could work in a record shop or lecture in film studies. Humphries is philosophical, stoic, intense.

"The television shows have it all wrong. It's giving a romantic view [ that] there's always lots of clues and everything goes smoothly. And there's always a femme fatale," says Fogarty with a groan.

"We don't wear Macs or hats. We're not shady characters. We're not particularly nosey outside the job, just ordinary guys."

Ordinary guys doing a not-so-ordinary job. A job that took them on an 18-hour stint the day before, most of it spent in their car, and with nothing happening for the first 12 hours.

"The last six made up for it," says Fogarty. "It was go, go, go, hands-on, focused. Sometimes, it can be a real adrenalin rush," says Humphries.

In reality, however, unlike the TV shows, the job rarely goes smoothly, and often involves months of investigation, requires meticulous attention to detail, and is frequently dangerous.

It's a job that involves standing in bushes in the rain for hours just to get a few seconds of film of an unfaithful spouse caught in an embrace or an employee with a hand in a till; it can even entail criss-crossing the Continent, hot on the heels of a suspect.

One case took them to the Dominican Republic, where they discovered the suspect was involved in a much more sinister act than adultery - paedophilia. Sex abuse is prevalent, particularly of the young and vulnerable, even the old and incapacitated, and they have exposed a number of cases.

There is not much that they haven't seen, in the underbelly of life.

"Obviously there have been cases where we have been shocked, some involving high-profile people. When the sun goes down in the evening you see what really goes on in neighbourhoods, in the countryside, in urban areas, the dark, dark secrets," says Humphries.

Humphries and Fogarty, both unmarried, are extremely secretive. Very few people know what they do for a living. Humphries has not told his family; he tells them he is self-employed and they don't ask questions, he says.

"There's a certain stigma attached to this profession, a stigma associated with the characteristics of what I may be." But it helps to say nothing.

Secrecy is integral to their profession. Every case is confidential and everything confidential can be accessed; they have a network of sources. They won't say how they get their information, only that everything is verifiable and for the record.

"Put it this way, Irish people love to talk. Recently, I was looking for directions and I gave a name, and in the end, I didn't need to go to the address; I had everything I needed to know," says Humphries.

Another detective, based in the north midlands but who wishes to remain anonymous, says he has sources in various companies who download information from databases - for a small fee, of course.

CDA, which has been operating for almost 20 years and employs a number of detectives, will consider any request once it is legally and morally sound. It has refused a number of requests such as one to break into a building to retrieve some documents.

Humphries, too, has turned down an offer involving a substantial amount of money to do something else - but he won't elaborate.

The majority of their work, some 70 per cent, involves corporate fraud such as investigating the legitimacy of insurance claims, mismanagement, delivering court summonses, employee screening and theft which, they say, is rampant. Even the relatively mundane can surprise, as in a recent case where they investigated an employee on sick leave.

"He went to extreme measures to avoid detection by relocating himself in a house out of town surrounded by guard dogs and trees. But by climbing trees and waiting long hours, we got enough footage of him involved in fairly major activity and we gave a report to the company," says Humphries. The person left the company without receiving a cent.

The detectives go after hard evidence, evidence that cannot be disputed. They are often called to court as independent witnesses in a raft of cases, so all their evidence has to be admissible.

The remaining 30 per cent of the work they undertake comprises the most difficult, and often the most interesting, work - marital cases. In the past couple of years, particularly since the introduction of divorce, the number of marital cases on their books has soared.

"People are realising the service is available. Previously, they would have said it was something for America or the movies," says Fogarty.

The gender breakdown of people requesting investigations into their spouses is equal, in contrast to the popular perception of the straying husband. Marital infidelity is rife and is the source of much heartbreak, say the detectives. And sometimes a discovery - even if it is a confirmation of an affair - can bring enlightenment.

"The majority of people want first and foremost peace of mind, and from that they will make their own decision. There's a lot of people going crazy not knowing for certain.

"And sometimes there's a conflict going on. A spouse has a suspicion and that's countered by a guilt, 'what if I'm wrong', and there's a big struggle there. So they need to take this step, to have an extra pair of eyes," says Humphries. "It can be a very stressful situation for them - sleepless nights and worry caused by that breach of trust, that bond."

Fogarty adds: "But it also brings about confidence in the sense that they've actually done something about it, that they've somebody on their side that's helping them."

Helping someone in need, achieving a successful outcome, a result, gives them a buzz.

"It's any case where the suffering is terminated. There's a feel-good factor about that," he says.

Fogarty stumbled into the profession, getting some part-time work through a family contact when he was in college. Part-time evolved into full-time and, a decade later, he's determined to stay. Humphries had an earlier introduction, his childhood imagination being fired by stories of darkness and intrigue from an uncle in the profession. Naturally, he wanted to explore it.

Both Humphries and Fogarty are unusual in that they have always worked as detectives, starting as apprentices, in contrast to the majority of private detectives, who come from a security background, having been either in the Garda, the Army or in a security firm.

Currently, the industry is unregulated and anybody can set themselves up as a private detective.

The Private Security Authority (PSA), set up a year ago, and operating under the Private Security Services Act 2004, aims to introduce licensing for the entire security industry, including private detectives, a move that will be welcomed by both CDA and the unnamed north midlands detective, who say the industry has attracted a small criminal element.

The Garda Press Office refused to comment on the private detective industry in Ireland.

A spokesman for the PSA says the criteria for licensing private detectives has yet to be established and that licensing will be introduced in stages for the various sectors, beginning during the year with bouncers and security personnel manning events.

There are no official figures for the number of PIs in the State, although Fogarty reckons there are about 100 agencies. He is scathing of the standard of "have-a-go courses" springing up, particularly on the internet.

Nothing compares with working on the beat, learning the trade and applying the tricks, although some people have "a natural flair for the business and they're really good from day one", says Fogarty.

There are numerous tricks and gadgets the duo employ.

They are reluctant to talk about the technology they use, but suffice it to say that the industry is heavily reliant on technology, particularly on cameras which can even come equipped with sound.

"Anything that you can conceive is out there. We either have it or we can get our hands on it," says Fogarty, who estimates that they have at least €20,000 worth of camera equipment alone. Also, everything is battery-powered because they are constantly on the move, either by car or on foot.

They use subtle methods of disguise such as a quick change of clothes, removal of glasses, hats or jackets, but they also have the ability to "assume a character, as you have to be ready to change your look at the drop of a hat".

"Sometimes the watcher becomes the watched. You've got to be very discreet and be a good judge because if your cover is blown, you leave right away. You don't gamble on that," says Humphries. He should know, having been attacked by several men on one occasion but been "well able for them".

While both are trained in self-defence, it is the preparation they put in at the start of a case that is paramount to their safety, that and the fact that nobody works alone.

Each detective is teamed with the partner considered most suitable for that particular case. Sometimes, female detectives are used as "honey traps".

After taking on a case, they always do a "rekkie" of the territory. But, even then, everything has the potential to be dangerous: "A lot of housing estates are controlled by gangs and you don't always know what you're dealing with when you're starting off an investigation."

They have not yet failed in an investigation, although sometimes the outcome has been different to what they initially expected.

But it is the sex abuse cases that most enrage them. They have been shocked by the extent of the abuse, particularly among the elderly.

"It's in every capacity: home helpers, people employed by health boards, family members, private nursing homes. If people aren't listening to the elderly or to the young, then there's no way of stopping that going on," says Fogarty.

"Our ultimate goal or dream would be if a wealthy individual, corporation or the State came along and said, 'there's an amount of money, now go catch these people' - that would be the most satisfactory thing to do."

CDA can be contacted at www.cda121.com or at 021-4776622