Garda head apologises to family for Abbeylara shooting

Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy has written to the family of John Carthy to apologise to them for the shooting dead of Mr Carthy by gardaí during the Abbeylara siege in 2000.

The letter was sent on July 27th, three days after the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, said he believed An Garda Síochána would issue an apology once senior members of the force had fully considered the report of the Barr tribunal which investigated the shooting.

A spokesman for Mr McDowell said the issue of a Garda apology had never been a source of friction between the Minister and senior Garda management. Mr McDowell had been aware "for some time" of Mr Conroy's letter and he welcomed it, the spokesman said.

A statement issued last night on behalf of the Carthy family said Mr Conroy's letter had been issued "on his own behalf and on behalf of all members of An Garda Síochána".

"The Carthy family acknowledges the apology made by the Garda Commissioner," the statement issued by Dublin-based DHR Communications said.

"In particular, the family welcomes the commissioner's commitment contained in the letter to implement all recommendations contained in Mr Justice Barr's report."

"The Carthy family hopes that an appropriate, independent mechanism will now be put in place to monitor the Garda's progress in this regard. The commissioner stated he was truly apologetic for the loss of John's life."

Mr Conroy's apology to the family follows the issuing of an apology on behalf of the State by Mr McDowell and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

Mr Carthy, then aged 27, was shot dead by members of the Garda's Emergency Response Unit (ERU) outside his Abbeylara home in Co Longford, on April 20th, 2000. The shooting followed a 25-hour armed stand-off during which he fired several shots from the front window of his home.

The tribunal established to investigate the circumstances of his death ended in December 2004 after hearing 169 witnesses over more than 200 days. It was chaired by Mr Justice Robert Barr.

His report identified critical errors in the Garda handling of the siege that led to the "avoidable" death of Mr Carthy. It stated that the "negligence of those in command led to the tragedy" of Mr Carthy's death.

At a press conference on the day the report was published, Mr Carthy's sister, Marie, said it was regrettable the Garda was still not accepting responsibility for her brother's death.

The next day, on July 21st, An Garda Síochána issued a statement saying the force regretted loss of life in any circumstances. That statement extended the force's sympathies to the dead man's mother, Rose Carthy, and to the extended Carthy family.

However, the latest correspondence to the family was written by Mr Conroy personally and goes further than the previous statement in that it says he is "truly apologetic".

Mr Conroy previously said that many of the recommendations contained in the Barr tribunal report had already been implemented.