The Garda detective who left his gun in a toilet at the Flood tribunal yesterday is to face a disciplinary inquiry. The Special Detective Unit officer had been on duty guarding the tribunal and is understood to have left the building before discovering he had left his gun in the toilet. By the time he returned, the gun had been discovered by a solicitor.
The solicitor alerted tribunal staff and they called a uniformed garda who watched over the gun until it was collected by two detectives from Pearse Street Station. Before it was removed, the gun was seen by members of the public and a number of journalists.
A Garda Press Office spokesman confirmed yesterday afternoon the gun had indeed belonged to a detective on duty at the tribunal at the time.
"He went to relieve himself and left the gun in the lavatory," said the spokesman, who added: "All detectives carry arms. It was found by someone else who went in after him."
Gardai in the SDU ("Special Branch"), are armed almost all the time they are on duty. One officer yesterday said the gun had to be removed from the belt holster on going to the toilet.
One detective observed it was not unknown for officers, used to having guns on their person, to overlook them from time to time.
However, there are tight regulations on the handling of firearms and leaving a gun in a public place is seen as a serious disciplinary matter.