The collapse of the Dáil subcommittee inquiry into the shooting at Abberylara has moved the Government to establish a second public inquiry, writes Jim Cusack, Security Editor
The Abbeylara case and the prolonged allegations about gardaí in Donegal have prompted the Government to respond with the promise of a restricted public inquiry into Donegal, a second public inquiry into Abbeylara and to set up an independent Garda Inspectorate.
The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, who initially opposed the idea of a public inquiry in the immediate aftermath of Abbeylara, has now accepted the need for an external inquiry into the events.
The internal Garda inquiry, which reported last year, exonerated the gardaí and actually added to the controversy. The Garda report devoted 18 pages to John Carthy's history of erratic and sometimes threatening behaviour. The Garda report even drew attention to what it alleged were inflated claims by Mr Carthy about his prowess as a handball player.
It also took issue with media reports. During the post-shooting investigations, six journalists were interviewed about the sources of their reports on Abbeylara.
The public inquiry will be the first independent look at the Garda's Emergency Response Unit (ERU), the heavily armed wing which was set up by the Garda in the early 1990s in response to the spread of armed crime and terrorism.
The ERU has had significant successes in countering both organised armed criminals and republican terrorists. However, it has been involved in a number of controversial incidents which have called into question its operating procedures.
Last December a member of the ERU opened fire on a car allegedly driven by members of a Dublin gang planning to carry out a robbery in Co Laois. The weapon fired at the car, a Spaz military assault shotgun, is one of the most powerful hand-held weapons and fires steel pellets each of which has the velocity of a rifle round. One of the pellets struck another undercover officer, Sgt John Eiffe, killing him instantly.
Some gardaí have privately expressed concern about the fact that the ERU is sometimes involved in operations in which there are officers in both combat uniform and in plain clothes. Also the issue of firing powerful weapons in areas used by the public raises concerns.
The continuing public disquiet about the killing of Mr Carthy, and yesterday's Supreme Court decision blocking the Dáil subcommittee inquiry, has left the Government with no option but to hold some form of independent inquiry.
Last month the Minister also agreed to the setting up of a public inquiry into the prolonged allegations about Garda corruption in Donegal. The inquiry will hear some evidence in public and some in secret. It was not clear yesterday how the Abbeylara inquiry will be constituted.
The proposed Garda Inspectorate is expected to combine two principal functions: to inquire into allegations and complaints against the Garda and to make inspections to ensure that the Garda is working to expected levels of efficiency. Legislation to establish the Inspectorate is due within the next few months and it could be operational within a year.
In the North, unionist politicians have sought public inquiries into Garda actions to counter-balance inquiries into the RUC.