Garda inquiry has two years left

HOAX IRA arms dumps, corrupt senior police officers, and claims of harassment have already rocked An Garda Síochána, yet today sees the start of another two years of inquiry.

After the first interim report of the Morris Tribunal, set up to examine events around the controversial hit-and-run death of Donegal cattle dealer Richie Barron, public confidence in the force has been shattered.

But with several modules still to run, tribunal chairman Mr Justice Frederick Morris has the power to force the Government to demand a massive clean-up of the gardaí. The first phase which examined explosive and arms finds in Donegal in the early 1990s culminated in a report in July of this year detailing staggering levels of garda corruption.

So shocking were the outcomes of the first module that calls have been made for a root and branch review of how An Garda Síochána operates.

Several modules looking into arrests, investigations and allegations of harassment in Donegal are to follow over the next two or more years.

The current module into Mr Barron’s death on the outskirts of Raphoe is expected to run until early next year - some witnesses still claim Mr Barron was murdered.

Inquiries into the arrest and detention of members of the McBrearty family after the cattle dealer’s death will follow throughout next year.

And lawyers will also look at allegations of garda harassment of the family, who have claimed the tribunal’s terms of reference are too narrow.

A timetable for the inquiry has been agreed with Attorney General Rory Brady, SC, placing restrictions on lawyers’ fees in a bid to cut the length of the investigation.

It is expected the tribunal will run until September 2006, after which lawyers must take a pay cut. Daily fees will drop from around €2,500 a day to €969.