A former garda detective inspector yesterday denied, as an “outrageous lie”, a claim by Marie Farrell he exposed himself to her in the toilets of Schull golf club sometime in summer 1998 while asking wasn’t it a thrill to be “fitting up” Ian Bailey.

A State witness yesterday denied a suggestion he was so convinced Ian Bailey had murdered Sophie Toscan du Plantier he was “scratching around” for any evidence against him, when gardaí had “none”.

Call showed ‘close’ relationship between garda and Bailey witness

A former detective garda in the Sophie Toscan du Plantier murder investigation has said he does not believe the reason a superior officer wanted a Garda statement “chopped up” was because it might have been seen as favourable to Ian Bailey.

A witness yesterday rejected suggestions gardaí must have believed their investigation into the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier had gone “into orbit” after they identified Marie Farrrell as the anonymous caller who claimed she had seen a man in a long black coat running on the road near Schull hours before the body was found.

A former detective garda involved in the Sophie Toscan du Plantier murder investigation has told the High Court he “totally refutes” claims by Marie Farrell he stripped naked in a holiday home and asked her for sex.

An ex-garda has told the High Court he never gave cannabis to a man in the hope of getting Ian Bailey to “loosen his tongue” in relation to the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier.

A former detective garda yesterday denied he told Marie Farrell gardaí knew Ian Bailey had killed Sophie Toscan du Plantier and needed her to say Mr Bailey was the man she saw near Schull hours before the body was found.

A detective garda has denied encouraging Schull shopkeeper Marie Farrell to claim she saw Ian Bailey near the Sophie Toscan du Plantier murder scene.

A retired Garda detective told the High Court he had no recall of any “dramatic leads” emanating from statements made by a French television producer concerning details of a former lover of Sophie Toscan du Plantier.

Gardaí did not eliminate Marie Farrell as an important witness in the Sophie Toscan du Plantier murder investigation after establishing she had lied to them, an former senior garda told the High Court.

An important witness in the Sophie Toscan du Plantier murder investigation was never assured by gardai she would not have to go to court: that would be “ridiculous”, a retired garda detective superintendent told the High Court.

A former British soldier has told the Ian Bailey case at the High Court he agreed to meet the Garda Síochána Ombudmsman Commission (GSOC) in February 2014 but left after it refused to pay him expenses for being off work.

A former British soldier denied before the High Court he told gardaí in 1997 he and another man were thinking of going down to journalist Ian Bailey’s house to ask him to “give himself up”.

References were made to poitín, cash, clothes and the moon during recorded conversations played in the High Court yesterday to the jury hearing Ian Bailey’s action for damages against the State.

A man has told the High Court gardai gave him cash “a few quid — 20 bucks here, 40 bucks there”, clothes and significant quantities of cannabis to befriend Ian Bailey and “loosen” his tongue.

Detective Sgt tells superior they had to ‘break’ Bailey’s partner

A recorded conversation between gardaí in the investigation of the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier included a reference to a statement having to get “chopped up”, the jury in journalist Ian Bailey’s civil action against the State heard yesterday.

Ian Bailey's damages action has been hearing secretly taped garda phone calls in which a detective is heard saying: "That statement has to get chopped up."

Marie Farrell yesterday insisted she was telling the truth when she told a Garda inquiry a detective sergeant apologised to her over an incident in which she alleged he exposed himself to her before saying words to the effect “fitting up” journalist Ian Bailey was a “turn on”.

Marie Farrell denied in the High Court it was she who initiated most contact with Det Garda Jim Fitzgerald.

Marie Farrell has claimed a detective working on the Sophie Toscan du Plantier murder investigation stripped naked and asked her for sex.

Marie Farrell yesterday told a High Court jury she decided to leave her home in Schull after Garda intimidation of her children.

A garda detective sergeant exposed himself to a woman who had given evidence against Ian Bailey telling her "isn’t it a real turn-on fitting up the long black bollocks or the English bastard or whatever they call him", she told the High Court yesterday.

Marie Farrell has said a garda detective investigating the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier told her they needed to put pressure on the DPP to get Ian Bailey charged.

A detective garda said he was sending a "down and out" to journalist Ian Bailey’s home to get Mr Bailey "drunk and high" and to "confess" on tape, Marie Farrell has told a High Court jury.

Jules Thomas yesterday said gardaí told her Ian Bailey confessed to the murder of French film-maker Sophie Toscan du Plantier when he "never had".

Ian Bailey’s civil action against the State begins tomorrow, with the former journalist claiming gardaí attempted to frame him for the unsolved murder of Frenchwoman Sophie Toscan du Plantier.

The Comeragh mountain range in Co Waterford is an area of spectacular natural beauty, a relatively undiscovered gem that is home to stunning glacial lakes, picturesque waterfalls and hidden caverns.

Four gardaí are to receive transcripts of taped conversations at Bandon Garda Station before Ian Bailey who is suing the State for damages following a High Court ruling yesterday.

Ten people, including a retired detective garda, have written to the State concerning an application by Ian Bailey to inspect recordings of phone calls between various individuals, including journalists and gardaí, in Bandon Garda Station, the High Court has heard.

People living in two villages in South Cork are to gather a petition against the axing of their bus service, which has left many students and pensioners stranded.

The TV3 documentary, In the Name of the Republic, highlighted for a new generation the role of the late Martin Corry in the War of Independence.

With the upcoming sale of the letter from Harry Quinlisk to the authorities in Dublin Castle, about informing on Michael Collins — and the excellent article by historian Ryle Dwyer about this episode in the Irish Examiner last week — when there was a bounty of £10,000 on Michael’s head, I have a contribution.

Chilling tapes of a late Fianna Fáil TD chuckling about torturing, executing and secretly burying suspected spies during the War of Independence are set to be aired for the first time in a television documentary.

Three decades on, the kidnapping of Derby-winning racehorse Shergar remains one of the great unsolved crimes in Irish history, writes John Daly

When Christy McCormack hung up his uniform for the last time it marked the end of an era for rural policing in Galbally, Co Limerick.

THE home of the legendary Clare healer Biddy Early is up for sale.

EQUINE academic Soraya Morscher believes a separate studbook would be welcome in helping breeders identify stallions with the traits required to breed an eventing horse.

MY GRANDFATHER, Pat Harris, spoke proudly of marching to Macroom on Easter Monday, 1916, and of being arrested with Terence MacSwiney on August 12, 1920, at a meeting of the officers of Cork No 1 Brigade in Cork’s City Hall. But he never spoke about what the First Cork Brigade did in the two years that followed.

A CO Cork painter has been found guilty of murdering 60-year-old widow Ann Corcoran after abducting her from her farmhouse during a robbery.

A TEENAGER who died in a weekend car accident was one of two recent graduates of a Cork city school killed on the roads in less than a fortnight.

The man accused of money-laundering denied telling gardaí he was ever in fear of Phil Flynn, the former chairman of Bank of Scotland (Ireland).

WHEN Shergar retired to stud, it was envisaged his bequest to the world would be a glorious lineage of racing legends.