The deputy leader of the Labour Party, Mr Brendan Howlin, has said he is "absolutely certain" that the Garda investigation into allegations of corrupt police practices in Donegal will uncover any wrongdoing in the force.
Mr Howlin was speaking yesterday after his second meeting in five days with Mr Fachtna Murphy, the Assistant Garda Commissioner, who was last week assigned to examine allegations made against senior officers by a garda detective who is in turn under investigation.
An investigation headed by Assistant Commissioner Kevin Carty into allegations against gardai in Donegal has been conducted over the past 14 months. Mr Carty's final report is due to be submitted to the Garda Commissioner, the DPP and the Department of Justice shortly.
The detective made the allegations against at least two senior Garda officers while being questioned by the Carty team. He has threatened to make the allegations public if he is prosecuted as a result of the current investigation.
"I have been assured by senior sources in the Gardai and by the Minister for Justice that the report will be comprehensive and that the chips will be allowed to fall as they may fall, exposing any wrongdoing in the Garda Siochana," Mr Howlin said.
Last Tuesday, Mr Howlin and Fine Gael's justice spokesman, Mr Jim Higgins, met the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, to discuss the allegations against the senior officers. Mr Murphy was then appointed and has met Mr Howlin twice since last Saturday.
According to Mr Howlin, as a result of the second meeting he is now sure of the objective of the Garda investigation and believes the Carty report will be published within the next 10 days.
A number of officers in the Donegal division are being investigated in relation to a flawed investigation into the 1996 death of Richie Barron in Raphoe, Co Donegal, and ensuing claims of Garda intimidation by Mr Frank McBrearty, a local publican, and members of his family and staff.
Last month, 160 summonses against the McBreartys were dropped by the DPP on the day a District Court judge instructed the prosecution team to comply with the discovery of documents to the publican's legal team.
Allegations persist that a statement of admission to the killing was forged in the name Mr Frank McBrearty jnr. No charges were ever brought in the case, but those arrested have begun compensation proceedings against the State.
Additional claims allege that gardai used informers to make false allegations that officers "replanted" caches of explosives and that civilians were harassed and intimidated. If gardai are discredited by the investigation, any previous convictions secured on their evidence may also come into question.
Meanwhile, a Government spokesman yesterday rejected media reports that the Attorney General, Mr Michael McDowell, intended to meet a Letterkenny-based woman garda who is said to have made allegations against detectives investigating the Barron death. "Under no circumstances would such a meeting take place," the spokesman said.