A MAN who was at the centre of controversy at the Morris tribunal died yesterday when a 30ft fir tree fell on him.
Hugh Diver (59) was cutting trees on a laneway leading to a house near Ardara, Co Donegal, when the accident happened.
Mr Diver, a married man with grown children, was trapped beneath the tree when it fell at 11.45am.
Gardaí said he was cutting trees on Tuesday and he returned yesterday to finish the task. He had a strap and winch, and was regarded as very experienced at the task, when the tree fell on him in a lane off the main road leading to Glenties.
Mr Diver’s wife, Bernadette, was informed of the news in New York after flying to the US city to visit a family member on Tuesday.
Full Garda and Health and Safety Authority investigations began yesterday.
Mr Diver, a well-known local character, used to play the part of St Patrick in Ardara’s St Patrick’s Day parade.
During the Morris tribunal, he refused to give evidence to Mr Justice Frederick Morris and he was warned that failure to answer questions could result in his assets being sequestered and a fine being imposed for every day he refused to appear.
Mr Diver told the chairman he believed the tribunal was trying to make a scapegoat of a few gardaí in Donegal and letting senior officers “away”.
He was one of three men arrested under the Offences Against the State Act after an explosive device was found attached to a television mast in Ardara in November 1996.
Mr Diver refused to take the oath on the same Bible as had been previously used by gardaí.
Two weeks later, he again appeared at the tribunal and began by apologising for his behaviour the last day he appeared. Mr Diver went on to give evidence of his arrest in November 1996 in connection with the discovery of what was thought to be an explosive device on a mast in Ardara.
He claimed his arrest was unlawful and he said he believed the device had been made in a Garda station.
He alleged the real reason he was arrested had nothing to do with the device.
He claimed it was because he had refused to let his wife give evidence in a court case three years earlier against a woman who had allegedly assaulted a garda.