Mr John Carthy, the Longford man shot dead by gardai during a siege outside his home last month, told his best friend he would give himself up provided he could see his solicitor.
The friend, Mr Kevin Ireland, told RTE's Prime Time last night that Mr Carthy had told him during a telephone call that he would give himself up if he got his solicitor, Mr Michael Finucane. Mr Ireland said he passed this message on to gardai. According to the programme, it was never received by Mr Finucane.
Mr Carthy (27) was killed by members of the Garda's Emergency Response Unit after he emerged from his home in the village of Abbeylara carrying a shotgun.
During a standoff which began the previous evening Mr Carthy had fired his shotgun several times at gardai who were attempting to persuade him to leave his house.
The findings of a Garda inquiry into the incident are due to be published later this month.
On RTE last night Mr Ireland said he spoke to a garda involved in the operation hours before Mr Carthy was killed. He said: "I told him that I was talking to John Carthy and he said that he'd give himself up if he got this solicitor, Mick Finucane, in Dublin . . . And they said they would contact his solicitor, and I said to let John know that they were getting him his solicitor, because I couldn't get through to his phone."
Mr Carthy's sister, Marie, as well as his cousins and closest friends, expressed concern at the way the Garda operation was mounted and managed.
Prof Dermot Walsh, an explosives expert and law lecturer at the University of Limerick, also appeared on the programme to discuss the incident and the internal Garda investigation.