Barr Tribunal: The chairman of the inquiry into the Abbeylara shooting of Mr John Carthy, Mr Justice Robert Barr, was accused yesterday of bullying witnesses and making the job of barristers representing gardaí impossible.
In submissions to Mr Justice Barr, Mr John Rogers SC also suggested that the judge had treated him with "disdain and contempt" during proceedings at the tribunal on the previous day.
He said he was making the submissions "at the behest" of his clients, gardaí he was representing at the tribunal.
He said his clients had "the perception" that the chairman did not listen to counsel when it was making submissions.
They also had the perception that he cut off counsel when they made submissions, and that he forced witnesses to give yes/no answers.
He said they also had "the perception that you tend to bully witnesses", and that "you have abused their counsel".
His clients believed his job was "well nigh impossible" as a result, and he believed that his clients concerns "were warranted".
Mr Barr, however, rejected the suggestions, and had earlier given assurances that he had no intention of obstructing their legal representatives.
Mr Rogers made his submission following clashes with the chairman on Tuesday regarding the questioning of one of his clients, Det Garda Ronan Carey, of the Emergency Response Unit (ERU), who was then giving evidence.
He had been giving evidence as a witness to the shooting dead of Mr Carthy by members of the unit following a siege in Abbeylara in April 2000.
Mr Justice Barr had refused to take a submission from Mr Rogers when he attempted to interject on the chairman's questioning of the detective, and told Mr Rogers to sit down.
Mr Rogers said he had been attempting to make a submission regarding the nature of the questioning by the chairman. He said this was because he was not confining his questions to what the officer saw or heard.
Instead he was asking Det Garda Carey to give an opinion as to what direction he thought Mr Carthy may have gone in when he emerged from the house.
Mr Rogers said he also questioned the appropriateness of Mr Justice Barr's warning to the garda that a failure to answer the question could affect his credibility as a witness.
Yesterday Mr Justice Barr defended his actions the previous day, saying it was "perfectly reasonable" to ask the questions and insist on an answer.
"He's an expert Garda witness, am I not entitled to ask him an opinion."
He also said the suggestion that he was forcing witnesses into making yes/no statements in order to provide evidence which suited him as "gratuitously offensive".
The chairman said the witness was "not prepared to say anything which would undermine the evidence of his brother officer".
Mr Rogers also said the judge, on Tuesday afternoon, sought to justify his treatment of him that morning by referring to events which occurred later that day.
Mr Rogers said the chairman was "seeking to justify your conduct yesterday by a manipulation of facts".
The judge rejected this.
He accused Mr Rogers of being involved in the "cherrypicking of facts" in relation to his submissions.