MORRIS TRIBUNAL: A senior garda has told the Morris Tribunal he has "serious doubts" about the authenticity of an operation to intercept suspected explosives being transported across the Donegal-Derry border by alleged Garda informer Ms Adrienne McGlinchey in 1994.
Chief Supt Denis Fitzpatrick was asked by the tribunal chairman if the incident struck him as authentic or if he had any doubts about it. "I have serious doubts," he replied.
"First of all, they centre around Ms McGlinchey. From my knowledge ... I have no doubt she was never a Garda informer. That is my belief," he said.
Chief Supt Fitzpatrick said that, at the time, he "definitely was impressed" with the way the operation went.
Chief Supt Fitzpatrick was Border superintendent in Donegal on January 11th, 1994, when he travelled with Insp Kevin Lennon and Supt John O'Connor to a checkpoint set up to intercept Ms McGlinchey.
The RUC had told him a wheelie-bin containing homemade explosives had been found in Derry, he said. That evening, Supt (then Insp) Kevin Lennon told him Ms McGlinchey would be transporting explosives from Buncrana to Derry that night.
Chief Supt Fitzpatrick said he assumed this was to replace the explosives the RUC had seized that morning.
"The Provos were obviously desperate to do something in Derry," he said.
Chief Supt Fitzpatrick informed the RUC, and he and Supt Lennon travelled to Bridgend, where a checkpoint was set up to intercept the materials.
Chief Supt Fitzpatrick said he was "crystal clear" that Ms McGlinchey was supposed to move the explosives across the Border for the IRA, not merely deposit them at Burnfoot on the Donegal side of the Border.
The Garda plan was that Ms McGlinchey would dump the explosives rather than go through the checkpoint, thus diverting any IRA suspicion that she had given information to the Garda.