Barr report into Abbeylara shooting due within weeks

Barr Tribunal: The Barr tribunal's report into the shooting of John Carthy in Abbeylara almost six years ago is to be published within weeks, The Irish Times has learned.

The report, by Mr Justice Robert Barr, was originally expected to be issued within six months of the tribunal's last sitting. It finished its hearings in December 2004 after interviewing 169 witnesses over more than 200 days.

Yesterday, a tribunal official said the report would be published after Easter.

John Carthy (27), who suffered from depression, was shot dead by gardaí outside his home in Abbeylara, Co Longford, on April 20th, 2000, after a 25-hour armed stand-off.

The house was surrounded by gardaí after it emerged that Mr Carthy had discharged a gun. He then fired shots from his kitchen window during the stand-off.

Mr Carthy left the house carrying the shotgun on April 20th at about 5.45pm. He was shot four times by two members of the Garda's emergency response unit (ERU) as he walked away from the house and towards Abbeylara village.

The tribunal's investigations centred around the Garda's handling of the siege and the chain of command at the scene. It questioned the failure to bring psychiatric professionals and a solicitor to the scene at an early stage. It heard evidence from the two ERU members who fired the shots.

Mr Justice Barr looked at the training of gardaí for siege situations and the training given to ERU members. He heard evidence from gardaí, medical and legal experts, journalists and Mr Carthy's family and friends.

He also examined the Garda's handling of the press at the scene, and he questioned the reasoning behind withholding cigarettes from Mr Carthy.

This was the fifth inquiry into Mr Carthy's death following the inquest, a Garda report into the incident, an FBI report and an Oireachtas inquiry that was aborted after a Supreme Court ruling.