The coroner, Dr Gerry McDonagh, requested the media not to publish the names of the members of the Garda Emergency Response Unit who testified at the inquest. He said it would be unfair to the privacy of the ERU members to publish their details or their photographs, but added that he had no power to compel the media not to publish them.
In evidence earlier, the first of three gardai to arrive at the Carthy home told the inquest that he feared for his life after John Carthy broke a window in the gable of the house and fired a number of shots.
Det Garda James Campbell said that he drove an unmarked patrol car to the back of the Carthy home, where he believed there were no windows and it would be safe.
He was armed and "crouching" as he moved around the house, making his way to the front door. He knocked, said who he was, and asked Mr Carthy if he was OK. He immediately heard glass breaking and a shot was fired from a gable window he had just passed under.
Two further shots were discharged and the detective told Mr Carthy that there was a doctor outside who wished to speak to him. When Det Garda Campbell mentioned the name of Dr Patrick Cullen, another shot was fired from the back of the house, hitting the patrol car. Mr Carthy said: "Come in here, you fucker. I'm not going out."
The detective said that several more shots were fired before the arrival of the ERU.
He said gardai brought Mr Carthy's sister, Marie, to the scene sometime after midnight. They had driven her from Galway, where she worked.
On the following evening he was part of an outer cordon around the Carthy home when he heard ERU members saying that Mr Carthy was coming out. They called to him to put down his gun.
He saw Mr Carthy emerge on to the road with a gun. "He turned and walked towards me. He was only 20 yards away and I feared for my life", the detective said.
The witness said that he crouched behind a jeep and heard a number of shots. When he emerged, he saw ERU members trying to resuscitate Mr Carthy. He saw one of the ERU members kick a shotgun from his side. An ambulance which had been on standby at Granard Garda station, three miles away, was called to the scene.
Cross-examined by Mr Patrick Gageby SC, for the Carthy family, he said that nobody was told to shoot or not to shoot. "I'm 20 years a detective and would know when to shoot and when not to. I would not expect anyone to tell me when to do so", he said.
Garda Colin White said that a call was made to Granard station at 5.25 p.m. by Mrs Rose Carthy, John Carthy's mother, who said that her son had put her out of the house and locked himself inside with a gun.
When he called at two houses close to the Carthy home, he was told shots had been fired. He then drove to the Carthy home with Garda John Gibbons. When they reached the driveway, they heard a shot coming from the house. He was in fear of his life and reversed the car. He then cordoned off the area.