McBrearty Snr refuses to go before Tribunal

FRANK McBrearty Snr says he is prepared to go to jail and on hunger strike rather than appear as a witness at the Morris Tribunal.

Mr McBrearty, whose family is at the centre of many of the corruption allegations made against gardaí in Donegal, clashed with the judge investigating those allegations during the first Dublin sitting of the Morris Tribunal yesterday.

The Raphoe publican said after yesterday’s hearing that he and his family will not engage with the tribunal unless their demands are met. They want their legal costs covered and the tribunal’s terms of reference to be extended.

Mr McBrearty said he would return to Dublin on Friday to lobby the Dáil to have the terms extended. He wants the role, if any of the garda commissioner, the attorney general, the director of public prosecutions and the Donegal state solicitor in the affair to be investigated.

But Mr Justice Frederick Morris said the Dáil had already debated this issue and voted against extending the terms. Mr Justice Morris said this represented the will of the people which he could not reverse.

Mr McBrearty said he had spoken to the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, who allegedly told him there would be no objection to extending the terms if Mr Justice Morris went back and asked the Dáil.

Mr McBrearty claimed he needed legal representation to go before the tribunal and it was unfair that barristers should not be paid for three years while the tribunal sits and then reports. He said his bank had refused him a loan.

“I must have a legal team,” he said. “We are the people that have suffered the most.”

Mr Justice Morris said Mr McBrearty and other witnesses were entitled to expenses.

Mr Justice Morris was hearing various applications for legal representations from individuals and representative groups named in the opening statement heard over eight days in Donegal. He will announce rulings on these applications on Friday afternoon.

Gardaí named so far in the tribunal’s deliberations include Det Noel McMahon, John Nicholson, John O’Dowd and Patrick Mulligan. They are all seeking representation while their solicitor’s firm is also acting for the Garda Representative Association.

Another garda, Tina Fowley has asked the tribunal to order the attorney general to fully fund her costs. She is currently suspended from duty but she believes she has been unfairly scapegoated and is taking a High Court case to be re-instated.

Counsel for the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors represented 26 individuals. Mr Justice Morris questioned whether all of them needed to be represented and it was agreed a list would be submitted of people who believed their reputations as supervising officers are under scrutiny. The chief state solicitor also made an application on behalf of a number of un-named gardaí. They are believed to be of senior rank.

Yesterday the tribunal permitted John Boward to speak from the public gallery. He claimed to have had a commercial relationship with a garda and when he asked for payment, he was harassed.

This included, he claimed, more than 500 summonses and checkpoints outside his house.