The longest stand-off

Abbeylara Inquiry: John Carthy, a 27-year-old who suffered from manic depression, was shot dead by gardaí outside his home in…

Abbeylara Inquiry: John Carthy, a 27-year-old who suffered from manic depression, was shot dead by gardaí outside his home in Abbeylara, Co Longford, in April 2000.

His death followed a 25-hour armed stand-off during which Carthy, who was alone in the house, failed to engage in negotiations with gardaí and fired a number of shots from his kitchen window.

He had walked from his house into the roadway carrying his shotgun at around 5.45 p.m. on April 20th. He removed one of the two cartridges, before walking in the direction of Abbeylara village. He was shot four times from behind by two members of the Garda Emergency Response Unit, before he reached a group of armed and unarmed local gardaí who were standing on the road.

In March 2003, a tribunal under the chairmanship of Justice Robert Barr began to investigate the circumstances surrounding Carthy's death. It finished sitting earlier this month (on December 7th), after hearing evidence from 169 witnesses, including family and friends of Carthy, gardaí up to assistant commissioner level, medical and legal experts and members of the media during more than 200 days of public sittings.

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Though short by tribunal standards, its workings were delayed by the sometimes strained relations between the chairman and legal representatives of the gardaí, at one stage leading to a walk-out by the leading barrister for the gardaí, John Rogers.

Following frequent clashes with Justice Barr, Rogers withdrew last December when the chairman queried whether a fifth shot could have been fired at Carthy, possibly by one of the local gardaí facing him in the road, the guns of the local members not having been examined after the shooting. It was an "outrageous" suggestion, Rogers said, because it would mean the gardaí had concealed evidence. The tribunal adjourned until January when Justice Barr ruled there was no post-mortem evidence to support a fifth bullet hitting Carthy. Rogers returned to the hearings, but subsequent questioning has mainly been conducted by a second Garda representative, Margaret Nerney.

The conduct of the negotiations, the failure of the gardaí to meet Carthy's demands for cigarettes and a solicitor, the lack of a psychiatric professional at the scene and the overall Garda command of the operation have been issues of conflict between lawyers for the gardaí and the Carthy family. The tribunal evidence, expert reports and final submission are now being considered by Justice Barr, who is due to make his report to the Oireachtas within six months.

Olivia Kelly