The issue in regard to the shooting of John Carthy at Abbeylara is not whether the members of the Garda Emergency Response Unit acted properly in the proximate circumstances. Given the situation which had developed at the siege house, given the training and the weaponry of the ERU members, and given Mr Carthy's potentially lethal use of his shotgun, the denouement could hardly have been otherwise.
The FBI consultants, called in by the Commissioner, are probably correct when they say that Mr Carthy should have been shot sooner - before he breached the inner cordon of officers. But this is to take a narrowly-focused view of what happened at Abbeylara. And the value of a perspective from FBI headquarters at Quantico must be questioned. Social and historical realities suggest there should be little in common between the FBI and the Garda Siochana in their approach to the use of firearms.
More fundamental questions have to be answered about this tragic affair. If the handling of situations of this kind is to be taken out of the hands of local gardai why does the force not have suitable personnel, properly trained and with appropriate equipment to take over? Why was the ERU brought in at all? If it was considered necessary to have it available why could it not have been deployed discreetly? Was it necessary to have a public display of the sort of weaponry which would equip a company of SAS men or a tactical unit of the Israeli Defence Forces?
Down the decades, similar situations have been handled by local gardai using low-key, non-confrontational tactics. Rarely, if ever, have those tactics resulted in a fatality such as occurred at Abbeylara. Indeed, many Scott Medals have been awarded to members who succeeded in disarming individuals who have posed a threat in one way or another. It is as if in this instance, the Garda Siochana turned its back on its traditional strengths - an unarmed force, in touch with the community, relying on patience, goodwill and commonsense, albeit with lethal force as an ultimate back up if necessary.
John Carthy may not have been amenable to any of these influences. We will never know. But if the Garda is to depart from its traditional methods it must put something into place which is more suitable to this sort of encounter than the ERU. The classified pages of any international police journal carry endless advertisements for an array of tried and tested non-lethal devices. Had some of these been available at Abbeylara, rather than semi-automatic rifles and submachine guns, John Carthy would very possibly be alive today.
The Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, has recommended an examination of "less than lethal" devices for future use by the Garda. That should be undertaken without further delay. It is, after all, more than six months since the shooting at Abbeylara. If a similar situation were to present itself today, would the only answer be the deployment of paramilitary force once again?