An armed local garda, who was at the Abbeylara siege when Mr John Carthy was shot dead, has said he was "100 per cent sure" no local garda in his presence fired shots during the incident. Olivia Kelly reports.
Garda Eugene Boland has told the tribunal that he did not fire any shots at the scene and was not "personally aware or informed that any local officer discharged their firearm" during the incident.
Garda Boland appeared before the tribunal last September but has been recalled to answer questions about his training and the actions of gardaí in the last moments of Mr Carthy's life.
Garda Boland had previously told the tribunal that he feared for his life in the moments before members of the Garda Emergency Response Unit shot Mr Carthy, and it had crossed his mind that he and his colleague, Sgt Aidan Foley, would have to take action against Mr Carthy themselves.
Garda Boland and Sgt Foley had been behind a Garda jeep when Mr Carthy was shot. Garda Boland said that in the moments before the shooting, Mr Carthy was pointing his shotgun at him. "I feared for my own life and the life of Sgt Foley."
He said Sgt Foley told him to move in behind the jeep and said: "Move over, Eugene, we are going to have to do it ourselves."
Yesterday counsel for the tribunal, Mr Michael McGrath, asked Garda Boland if he could say what sort of tone Sgt Foley had used. He replied that it was an urgent tone.
There were five local gardaí in the vicinity of the jeep, four of whom, including Garda Boland, were armed, Mr McGrath said.
He asked was Garda Boland sure that none of them had discharged shots.
"I am 100 per cent sure about it," Garda Boland said.
The tribunal had been told that gardaí had run up the road away from the scene when Mr Carthy emerged from his house carrying his weapon, Mr McGrath said. He asked if Garda Boland saw anybody panic.
"I observed no panic at the command post at any time during the entire incident." He added that he had not seen any armed gardaí running when Mr Carthy emerged from the house.