I REFER to Cormac O'Keefe's article (Irish Examiner, April 17) regarding the introduction of an armed police force.

JOHN CARTHY who was shot dead by gardaí outside his home in Longford three years ago told a neighbour the day before the siege: “The party’s over, there will be no more laughing and the guards won’t be here anymore.”

LESS than two weeks after Longford man John Carthy was shot dead following the Abbeylara siege, work began to demolish the house he shared with his mother, the Barr Tribunal heard yesterday.

THE garda superintendent who authorised the return of John Carthy’s shotgun did not believe him suitable to hold a firearm but was swayed by the contrary opinion of a psychiatrist.

GARDAÍ were wrong to deny John Carthy's request for cigarettes during the armed stand-off that led to his death, a psychiatrist told the tribunal.

A psychiatrist has criticised the gardai for using cigarettes as a negotiating tool during the armed siege that led to the killing of 27-year-old John Carthy in Abbeylara, Co Longford, in April 2000.

THE psychiatrist who declared John Carthy fit to hold a shotgun said he may have been naive in believing the explanation Mr Carthy gave for the gardaí taking the gun from him in the first place.

The inquiry into the killing of John Carthy by armed gardai in April 2000 has begun hearing evidence from a psychiatrist who treated the 27-year-old.

John Carthy's psychiatrist is due to give evidence when the Barr tribunal continues its public sittings today.

A DOCTOR who examined John Carthy after an alleged assault at his local garda station found tenderness around his upper neck.

A PSYCHIATRIST who treated John Carthy declared him fit to have a firearm after his GP refused to help get his shotgun back from gardaí because of concern over his mental state.

NINE members of the Garda Emergency Response Unit have been granted full legal representation at the Abbeylara Tribunal which is to investigate the shooting dead of John Carthy by the unit almost three years ago.