SF challenged to co-operate with collusion probe

SINN FÉIN was yesterday called on to co-operate fully with the tribunal of inquiry investigating allegations of collusion by gardaí in the 1989 IRA ambush of two senior RUC officers.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell challenged Sinn Féin and the IRA to co-operate fully with the inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the murder of Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Bob Buchanan in South Armagh.

The inquiry will be chaired by president of the District Court Judge Peter Smithwick.

"There is one organisation that can provide full answers and that is the IRA," said Mr McDowell.

The tribunal arises from a report by retired Canadian judge Peter Cory that there was enough evidence of alleged garda collusion in the murders to warrant a public inquiry. Judge Cory investigated six cases in both the Republic and the North in which police or security service collusion had been alleged.

He recommended full inquiries for all four Northern cases the murders of solicitors Pat Finucane and Rosemary Nelson; Portadown man Robert Hamill; and LVF leader Billy Wright but said that a full inquiry was not warranted into the second Southern case, the IRA murder of Lord and Lady Gibson, also in 1989.

Outlining his reasons for setting up the tribunal, Mr McDowell described the murders of the two policemen as an "appalling act of depravity".

He challenged both Sinn Féin and the IRA to state clearly if they will co-operate, arguing that they could "not have it both ways".

"They cannot clamour for justice and truth regarding other barbaric acts that Judge Cory has reported on... and not co-operate with this one," he said.

Mr McDowell pointed out that because witnesses would only be compellable in the Republic, the tribunal would have to rely on the goodwill of those living in the North.

The minister's insistence on Sinn Féin co-operation was strongly supported by opposition parties. Fine Gael's justice spokesman Jim O'Keeffe said: "Sinn Féin will be put to the test in the way that they deal with the tribunal."

His Labour counterpart, Joe Costello said that it was equally important that the perpetrators of the killing come forward to give evidence.

"If they are in this jurisdiction, they should be compelled. If they are not, I expect them to volunteer," he said.

Amid much heckling, Sinn Féin's Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said his party did not oppose the motion.

However, he also widened his argument to criticise the British government's failure to set up a public inquiry into the murder of Mr Finucane.