Richie Barron: The Donegal cattle dealer whose death on the roadside near his home in Raphoe in October 1996, and its treatment as a murder inquiry, led to the tribunal.
The original autopsy found he died due to "head injuries". In July 2001, the body was exhumed and examined by the State Pathologist, Dr John Harbison, who found the main impact to Barron's skull was from a moving object, "most likely a motor vehicle". Peter Charleton SC said one of the few facts in the affair was that Barron was "an innocent victim of whatever killed him".
Det Garda Noel McMahon
He has been accused of planting "subversive paraphernalia" both in the Republic and Northern Ireland, and of driving a car bomb into Strabane, Co Derry. It was alleged he "cocked" the hammer of a loaded firearm in the face of a garda at Buncrana Garda Station. His home in Letterkenny was searched by gardaí in September 1999 and in it were found ammunition and some cannabis which he claimed came from his wife "even though it was in the breast pocket of a men's suit", said Charleton. He has been suspended from the force and denies the allegations against him.
Supt Kevin Lennon
He was Det Garda McMahon's superior. It was claimed the planting of hoax explosives was intended to secure his promotion. Supt Lennon also led the investigation in Barron's death in which information from William Doherty was used to launch a murder inquiry. Supt Lennon claimed Doherty was "a source of proven reliability in the past" but this information turned out to be "both false and misleading", said the Carty report. Supt Lennon, who has also been suspended from the force, denies all allegations of wrongdoing.
Det Sgt John White
He has been accused of involvement in planting a gun at a Traveller encampment at Burnfoot, Co Donegal, in 1998, and has also been implicated in the alleged planting of an explosives device at a telecommunications mast at Ardara in west Donegal, and the alleged planting of poitín at the premises of a local resident. In addition, an informer to the Barron murder inquiry claimed Det Sgt White gave him defamatory leaflets, referring to the "murdering McBreartys" to distribute in the area. Det Sgt White denies the allegations.
Sheenagh McMahon
The estranged wife of Det Garda Noel McMahon, she was the source of a number of serious allegations against him and Supt Lennon, including the alleged planting of subversive materials. She withdrew her statement, while allegedly under pressure, and subsequently reinstated it. Her claims provided part of the impetus to the establishment of the Carty inquiry. She secured a protection/barring order against her husband in June 1995, and separated from him in December 1998.
Adrienne McGlinchey
The daughter of a well-connected local family - her father had once been a Senator - she was claimed to be an IRA informer by Det Garda McMahon. Her credibility as such, however, was questioned by numerous gardaí, who described her as "a Walter Mitty-type person" who "liked to draw attention to herself" and "never produced any tangible evidence". A friend at the time, Yvonne Devine, told the Carty inquiry "Adrienne \ besotted by gardaí with big brown eyes" and "the IRA would have nothing to do with her".