Dundalk had '400 paramilitaries'

Up to 400 members of illegal paramilitary organisations were listed by gardaí as operating in Dundalk in the 1980s, the Smithwick Tribunal has been told.

The large number of subversives made the town a "difficult and dangerous place" for frontline gardaí who were frequently harassed in public, along with members of their families, a number of retired gardaí said.

Homes belonging to a number of gardaí, including Gda David Shannon and Det Sgt James Green were burnt; at least one, unnamed, uniform guard was wounded by terrorists in a shooting incident; and Det Sgt Owen Corrigan was assaulted in a public house, the tribunal was told. The tribual also heard that after Det Sgt Corrigan had retired, he was kidnapped and badly beaten.

In another case retired Det Gda Joe Flannagan told the tribunal he had been shot at by paramilitaries as he gave hot pursuit close to the Border.

Mr Flannagan told Judge Peter Smithwick his role had been mainly to gather intelligence on the movements of known subversives in the Dundalk area, and that he would not have been surprised to learn Dundalk Garda station was similarly under surveillance by paramilitaries.

He said he had "listed" between 300 and 400 subversives about whom he had compiled reports and notified the garda serious crimes unit. He said he would know most of these people on sight in Dundalk and that his work involved assessing who they were associating with and what vehicles they were driving, among other issues.

He said RUC officers who visited the station regularly would have been given an escort back as far the Border if they had requested it.

He said he had not seen Chief Supt Harry Breen or Supt Bob Buchanan of the RUC during their visit to the station on March 20th, 1989, but was aware of regular visits of police officers from Northern Ireland.

Both RUC officers were assassinated by the IRA at Edenappa Road just inside the Border with Northern Ireland as they returned from their March 20th visit to Dundalk. The Smithwick Tribunal is inquiring into suggestions that members of An Garda Síochána or other employees of the State colluded in the killings.

The tribunal has previously heard Supt Bob Buchanan had concerns members of the gardaí in Dundalk were passing intelligence to republicans, and in particular an allegation that Det Sgt Corrigan was "on the payroll" of republican Thomas "Slab" Murphy.

However Mr Flannagan said he had worked closely with Det Sgt Corrigan and he believed him to be an excellent officer "involved in searches, interrogations and investigations" resulting in the apprehension of known IRA members, all of which was done at considerable risk to his own safety. He described the allegations against Det Sgt Corrigan as "shameful".

Retired Det Gda Jim Lane said he "never actually believed there was any substance at all" in media reports of an IRA mole in Dundalk Garda Station. He said he had known Det Sgt Corrigan since 1965 and he did not believe the allegations in relation to that officer.

In relation to the murdered RUC officers he said he believed the IRA would have had the intelligence capacity to observe the officers' movements and mount an assassination. He said he did not know why the RUC men "travelled that road. It was the worst possible road [in terms of security]".