A seven-judge Supreme Court has reserved its judgment on the State's appeal against a High Court decision which has halted the inquiry by an Oireachtas sub-committee into the fatal shooting of John Carthy at Abbeylara, Co Longford.
The court's judgment will be anxiously awaited by politicians as it will have far-reaching implications for the power of the Oireachtas to conduct such inquiries.
Yesterday was the 10th day of the appeal hearing. The State, the Abbeylara sub-committee (ASC) and Mr Alan Shatter TD (Fine Gael), who is a member of the ASC but who made his own submissions, challenged a decision of a three-judge High Court last November which upheld a challenge by 36 gardaí to the inquiry.
The focus of the appeal was against a declaration by the High Court that there was no inherent power in the Oireachtas to conduct inquiries which might lead to findings adverse to the good names or livelihoods of citizens who were not members of the Oireachtas.
The ASC has also rejected the High Court's finding that, in its conduct of aspects of the inquiry, the sub-committee failed to follow fair procedures.