A senior garda who was district officer in Buncrana in the early 1990s said it would be "an appalling scenario" if gardaí tolerated illegal activity to protect an informer. Gerard Cunningham reports.
Supt John O'Connor was being questioned at the Morris tribunal about official attitudes by Buncrana gardaí to alleged informer Ms Adrienne McGlinchey.
Tribunal lawyer Mr Peter Charleton outlined a series of incidents where Ms McGlinchey was suspected to be in possession of ammunition and firearms. On one occasion, home-made explosive materials were discovered after a search of her flat, yet no charges were brought.
"People might reasonably suspect, is there collusion between the IRA and the gardaí," Mr Charleton said.
"That would be an appalling scenario if we allowed it to go on," Supt O'Connor said.
"Absolutely no way for one second would I have tolerated treachery to that level against the State." However, he said he was not disturbed that Ms McGlinchey's flat was "a bomb factory within 500 yards of a Garda station" in Buncrana.
"This was a matter being handled by the people in Letterkenny who would have had it under control and would have seen the bigger picture," he said.
Supt O'Connor denied he was in Buncrana on the day Ms McGlinchey's flat was searched. He said that Sgt Des Walsh was "gravely mistaken" in his evidence to the tribunal saying he was there on the evening the search was conducted. Supt O'Connor said he was in Letterkenny all that day, and travelled to Dublin that evening.
The tribunal is currently examining allegations that Det McMahon and Supt Kevin Lennon prepared explosives for subsequent use in bogus arms finds. The two officers have both denied those claims, and Ms McGlinchey says she was never an informer.
Supt O'Connor, who joined An Garda Síochána in 1967, served along the border as a sergeant in the Donegal Border town of Pettigo between 1973 and 1975, and Letterkenny between 1975 and 1986, when he was promoted to inspector. In 1993, he was promoted to superintendent.