MORRIS TRIBUNAL: A senior Garda yesterday told the Morris Tribunal that he never received any training as a detective or as a Border superintendent.
Chief Supt Denis Fitzpatrick, who was Border superintendent in Donegal during the early 1990s, was giving evidence to the tribunal for the fourth day. The post of Border superintendent was established under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Agreement to improve cross-Border security co-operation.
Supt Fitzpatrick said he relied on the judgement of Supt (then Insp) Kevin Lennon when it came to IRA activity in Donegal after he came to Donegal in 1992.
The tribunal is looking into claims by alleged informer Ms Adrienne McGlinchey that she prepared bogus arms finds for Supt Kevin Lennon and detective Garda Noel McMahon during the early 1990s.
Both gardaí deny the claims, and Ms McGlinchey says she was never an informer.
Of his post as Border superintendent, Chief Supt Fitzpatrick said: "I was never trained on it, I was never briefed on it. I have never been trained as a detective even though I was a detective. That was a weakness of mine," he added.
The chief superintendent said Supt Lennon was "highly regarded and trusted. It was accepted he's right, he's been right before, he has a track record. "Anything Kevin Lennon said in relation to Adrienne McGlinchey was accepted.
"I didn't have any insight into what the IRA did or didn't do, that was a weakness I had, and I relied on Kevin Lennon's judgment. If Kevin Lennon said that the IRA are moving something, I accepted it. I thought he was the authority on IRA activity in Donegal.
"That was his reputation, he had a proven record and I accepted that."
Because of his long experience, Supt Lennon should have known better, Chief Supt Fitzpatrick said.
"Supt Lennon should have assessed Ms McGlinchey and every piece of information she supplied, and put these things together to find out if they added up."
The tribunal adjourned early in order to allow Chief Supt Fitzpatrick an opportunity to gather his thoughts.
The witness was being questioned about a statement made in evidence on Thursday that Supt Lennon had "misled" the Garda Síochána about alleged explosives finds in Donegal during the early 1990s.