Information about the Garda's shooting of a 27-year-old Co Longford man, Mr John Carthy, during a siege at his home in April is due to emerge at this week's inquest into his death. The hearing at Longford Coroner's Court begins today.
The inquest is to hear evidence from the State Pathologist, Dr John Harbison, gardai who were on duty at the Carthy house in Abbeylara, and from Mr Carthy's doctor and family members.
It is understood Mr Carthy was hit by four bullets - two fired from an Uzi sub-machinegun and two from a 9 mm pistol - when he emerged from his house after holding gardai at bay with a shotgun for more than a day.
No official information about the killing has been released so far, and previously it had been thought he had been killed with an assault rifle.
The gardai involved in the siege are members of the Emergency Response Unit (ERU), the armed unit which is trained to confront armed and dangerous criminals and terrorists. The unit has trained with other police forces and agencies including the FBI and RUC.
Mr Carthy, who was said to be mentally disturbed at the time of his death, had fired several shots from his gun at gardai surrounding his home during the siege on April 20th.
The inquest was to have been held last month but was adjourned. It is expected that the gardai involved in the incident will be legally represented. Gardai at the scene were on duty for almost the entire siege, and some may have been working for up to 36 hours.
Very little official information has been published about the events at Abbeylara, apart from the unofficial leaking of parts of the internal Garda inquiry report, which remains in the possession of the Garda and the Department of Justice.
The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, said after the killing that he would make the internal Garda report public, but it is not clear yet when he will do this.
On August 10th a spokesman for the Department of Justice said the Minister was "determined that he will not allow any suspicion to stand or that any facts in this case are being suppressed". He said the Minister would not rule out a public inquiry.
The siege started after Mr Carthy's family called local gardai to the family home after he had apparently threatened his mother, Rosie.
Mr Carthy, who suffered from severe depression and was prone to rages, fired a blast from his shotgun which hit the Garda squad car. It was then decided to call in the ERU.
Fine Gael has called on the Government to publish the internal Garda report.
Mr Carthy's family has been critical of the conduct of the siege, saying they felt Mr Carthy had been isolated and his mental state allowed to deteriorate during it.