Witness faced pressure to withdraw claims

ONE of the key witnesses in the tribunal into allegations of garda corruption in Donegal faced pressure to withdraw claims her husband was involved in staging hoax explosives finds, the Morris Tribunal heard yesterday.

Solicitor Niall Sheridan told the tribunal that Sheenagh McMahon, the ex-wife of a garda, Noel McMahon, came under pressure to withdraw statements.

The tribunal heard at that time Garda Martin Leonard had approached Mr Sheridan to say Mrs McMahon wanted to withdraw the allegations she had made against her husband. Mrs McMahon denied making that move.

Garda Leonard said afterwards he had advised Mr McMahon not to answer questions posed by officers investigating the claims made by his wife.

Superintendent Tom Long said Mrs McMahon had approached him, saying she had genuine fears and concerns about her safety, and had been warned to keep her mouth shut about claims she was making about her husband and other garda officers mixing explosives in a shed at her family home. Her fears were based on threats she would be "dealt with" by a named person.

She also told him she wanted the allegations investigated by Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness, but eventually agreed not to take that step, leaving the issue instead to police inquiries.

The inquiry began in Donegal last year and has now transferred to Dublin to consider detailed evidence.

When the tribunal sat in Donegal, Mr Charleton spelled out a list of serious allegations that been made against gardaí in Co Donegal, some at a senior level. The allegations have been denied by the officers involved.

Mr Charleton said ahead of the tribunal, dozens of witnesses had been interviewed, including the Director of Public Prosecutions and three former justice ministers, Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, Nora Owen and Padraig Flynn.

He referred to a number of finds in Donegal in the 1980s and details of these were included in briefings to the British-Irish inter-governmental conference, with the ministers believing they had no grounds to doubt the bona fides of any reports of finds.

The tribunal has already run into controversy by directing two leading politicians to identify the sources of information about claimed improper police activity in Donegal.

Last week, tribunal chairman Mr Justice Frederick Morris confirmed the order against former minister Brendan Howlin, of the Irish Labour Party, and Fine Gael party frontbencher and one-time government whip Jim Higgins.

Both men later indicated they would be contesting the judgment by seeking a judicial review of the decision in the High Court paving the way for an open constitutional clash between the Republic's parliamentary and judicial systems.

It is expected that the issue which involves allegations made against two assistant commissioners of the Garda Siochána, Kevin Carty and Tony Hickey will be resolved by the Supreme Court.