A garda sergeant from the Border area was released last night after being questioned about the issuing of false passports, including one to a Provisional IRA member suspected of a murder in the North. The officer, in his late 30s, was questioned after irregularities came to light about the endorsement of eight passports.
It emerged during an investigation that one passport was issued to a man suspected of shooting dead postal worker Frank Kerr, at Newry sorting office in December 1994. The murder, during an attempted armed robbery, was the work of the Provisional IRA although it was supposed to be on ceasefire at the time.
The man suspected of the murder, who is from the Newry area, is believed to have moved to Dublin after the killing and to have been protected by Provisional IRA members. Gardai searched for the man for some time but eventually believed he had moved out of the State.
The Garda sergeant, who was suspended from duty yesterday was arrested on Tuesday night and questioned at Navan Garda station. He is in his later 30s, married with a young family. Officers involved in the investigation yesterday arrested another man, a retired Garda sergeant who had been serving in the Border area. He is in his 60s. It is understood both officers were arrested under the Official Secrets Act.
In a statement last night the Garda Press Office referred to one of the men, who was serving until yesterday, as a "suspended member of An Garda Siochana".
The statement read: "A suspended member of An Garda Siochana from the Eastern Region was arrested late last night [Tues] in relation to irregularities in the issuing of passports and was detained in Navan Garda station under the provisions of Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act. He was released at lunch-time today and a file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions."
A garda usually endorses a passport application form by stamping it and signing it after witnessing the signature of the applicant. The investigation will try and establish who sought the passports and why they would have had to get them in such a manner.