Minister for Justice Michael McDowell, Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy and senior officials will meet to discuss which of the Barr tribunal's recommendations to implement after the tribunal report strongly criticised Garda handling of the Abbeylara siege. Mark Brennock & Olivia Kelly report.
As the damning report identified critical errors in the Garda handling of the siege that led to the "avoidable" death of John Carthy, Mr McDowell and Mr Conroy held preliminary discussions on their response yesterday.
Mr Carthy was shot dead by gardaí outside his Abbeylara home in Co Longford, on April 20th, 2000, following a 25-hour armed stand-off during which he fired several shots from the front window of his home. The tribunal established to investigate the circumstances of his death ended in December 2004 after hearing 169 witnesses over more than 200 days.
Mr McDowell said time was needed to assess the 744 page report.He said the relatives and friends of Mr Carthy were due an apology from the State for what had happened. "But equally members of the Garda Síochána who played a role in the events at Abbeylara are entitled to our understanding."
In his report, Mr Justice Robert Barr states that the "negligence of those in command led to the tragedy" of Mr Carthy's death.
However, he stopped short of saying the killing was unlawful.
Mr Carthy was shot four times from behind - twice in legs by the ERU negotiator Sgt Michael Jackson and twice in the torso by Garda Aidan McCabe, the second of those shots fatally wounding him.
The chairman said he accepted Sgt McCabe's evidence that the first three shots seemed to have little effect on Mr Carthy and that Sgt McCabe believed Mr Carthy posed a threat to life.
However, Mr Justice Barr said this threat was brought about by the "defective" management of the scene.
He was particularly critical of principal scene commander Supt Joseph Shelly who he said was negligent on a number of counts and did little in his role as an intelligence officer.
This is not the first time Supt Shelly has been at the centre of a Garda controversy - he was also criticised in the Morris tribunal report and he retired on full pension in July 2005. The report makes 23 distinct criticisms of the gardaí including the failure to make any plan to deal with Mr Carthy's exit from his house, failure to properly engage with Mr Carthy's medical professional, failure to bring a solicitor to the scene or give Mr Carthy cigarettes.
It is also critical of the conduct of negotiations and the location of the negotiation and command posts.
The tribunal report contains wide ranging recommendations for change including:
Revised command structures for such siege situations.
Refresher training for officers who may act as scene commanders to include training on intelligence gathering.
Basic instruction on mental illness and on the need to seek medical advice in such cases.
Detailed courses for all Garda negotiators.
Basic training on dealing with the mentally ill for recruits.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said many concerns expressed in the report, published yesterday, over Garda structures and the control of firearms had been addressed in the Garda Síochána Act passed last year and the Criminal Justice Act signed into law by the President just last Sunday.
At a press conference, Mr Carthy's sister, Marie, said it was regrettable the Garda were still not accepting responsibility for her brother's death.
It had been "simply heartbreaking" to lose him in such "horrific circumstances" she said.
Speaking on RTÉ's Prime Time programme last night, Garda Ombudsman Commission member, Conor Brady, said the Barr report outlined "an unspeakable catalogue of personal failure by individual gardaí".
He said it was disturbing to see some gardaí involved in a "culture of cover up and circling the wagons".