Chronology: Between 1987 to 1991, Letterkenny woman Adrienne McGlinchey supplied information to Donegal gardaí, which was passed on to Garda HQ's Crime and Security branch.
While gardaí believed this information was genuine, Mr Justice Morris in his report yesterday characterised it as "small snippets of gossip" that she had fabricated.
While not involved with the IRA, Ms McGlinchey gave the impression that she was, though her reasons for doing so are unclear. She came to be regarded "a marginal fringe fellow-traveller".
July 1991 She was arrested for the first time on her way back from Rahan, Letterkenny, along with Yvonne Devine, the then 16-year-old niece of IRA man Pearse McCauley, just after a large van bomb was discovered in Ballindrait. She was questioned by Det Noel McMahon.
Shortly afterwards, the two women moved to Buncrana, where Det McMahon was based. Here, Ms McGlinchey again passed on snippets of information, this time to Det McMahon.
McMahon must, says the report, soon have realised that she was not a genuine IRA informer but instead of dismissing her, he and Kevin Lennon, then an inspector, saw in her an "almost unique opportunity" to further their careers.
Over the next two years, numerous gardaí reported Ms McGlinchey acting suspiciously, "ducking and diving" whenever she saw a Garda car and found her in possession of unusual items, such as tripods and radios.
Several detectives expressed their concerns to Chief Supt Seán Ginty, but he "ignored" them. In the second half of 1992, Lennon and McMahon visited Buncrana Garda station, where a row developed over who should get credit for a steel item recovered from Ms McGlinchey. During the row, described by Mr Justice Morris as "extremely nasty", Det McMahon unholstered his service revolver and pointed it several times at the head of Garda Séamus Gordon.
The failure to reprimand Det McMahon indicated that he and Insp Lennon were "joint conspirators", said Mr Justice Morris. Insp Lennon was formally appointed as McMahon's supervisor the following year.
May 18th, 1993 Ms McGlinchey was arrested and questioned. Border Supt Denis Fitzpatrick recommended that gardaí "lay off" her for six months. Instead, Det Lennon was appointed to supervise her handling as an informant by Insp McMahon.
September 11th, 1993 Under Lennon and McMahon's directions, she carried a lunchbox containing bullets and shotgun cartridges across the Border to Strabane. The officers claimed that was necessary to ensure her credibility with the IRA.
No official report on the incident was ever submitted by McMahon, the handler, or Lennon, his supervisor, or by any other senior Donegal officers.
Crime and Security were kept in ignorance of the activities of one of its supposed Donegal informers, with the result that "the RUC knew more" than it did.
November 19th, 1993 Urea fertiliser found in Ardchicken near Donegal town was falsely presented as being home-made explosive. The tribunal found that it could not have been detonated.
January11th, 1994 In a major Garda operation in Bridgend, Co Donegal, three hold- all bags containing ground fertiliser and icing sugar were intercepted after being dropped near the Border by Ms McGlinchey. However, it was all orchestrated by Insp Lennon to boost his reputation, according to the report.
March 14th, 1994 Ms McGlinchey's landlord discovered "steel objects" and reported this to Garda Tom Rattigan, who informed Det McMahon rather than the local station. The flat was not searched until the evening. The delay, the judge concludes, was to allow evidence to be moved and to allow Det Lennon to get to Buncrana from Letterkenny.
Det Sgt Des Walsh told the tribunal he received a warrant for the search, but this was not produced. The tribunal is satisfied that it never, in fact, existed.
Following the search, Ms McGlinchey was arrested, questioned and held overnight as part of a "charade" to give the impression that Lennon and McMahon were investigating.
June 4th, 1994 Hold-all bags of ground fertiliser were apparently made near Letterkenny's Oatfields sweet factory. Ms McGlinchey said she carried the bags by bus and dumped them, intending to collect them later. A pedestrian raised the alarm. They were collected and stored in the Garda station gymnasium. No forensic tests were done, no file ever prepared and the bags disappeared some years later. The only evidence they ever existed are two telexes sent to Garda HQ.
July 18th, 1994 560 kg of apparent home- made explosive, 100 rounds of .22 rifle ammunition and other materials were found in two locations near Rossnowlagh. This find was also not properly investigated. The fertiliser was eventually spread on the local superintendent's garden.
April/May 1999 Ms Sheenagh McMahon, Det Noel McMahon's estranged wife, made a statement to the Carty inquiry and handed over metal tubes held in a safe deposit box.
Ms McGlinchey was interviewed by the Carty team from May 1999. On July 9th, 1999, Mrs McMahon retracted her statement to the Carty team, although she reinstated it in December.