The Morris tribunal has defended its appointment of a former garda as one of the tribunal's investigators.
This was in response to an RTÉ Prime Time report in which journalist Michael Heaney raised concerns about the fact that Supt Michael Finn had been, as a Garda detective, at the centre of allegations by Mr Nicky Kelly, who complained he had been beaten up while being questioned about the Sallins train robbery.
The RTÉ report emphasised that no wrongdoing was ever proven against the garda concerned. Last night the Morris tribunal said that in order for the inquiry into certain members of the Garda Síochána "to be fruitful, a person who has served within the force and who knows its functions from the inside was essential".