Court told garda tried to block terrorism statement

A SENIOR garda attempted to block a statement that claimed he had no concerns about terrorism in Northern Ireland, the Omagh civil action case heard yesterday.

An internal MI5 memo alleged that chief superintendent Dermot Jennings wanted to remove the report because it cast doubt on the credibility of an FBI informer who had infiltrated the Real IRA.

The document maintained if the garda disputed that he told David Rupert that he was “only being interested in illegal activity in the Republic of Ireland” it would make him an untrustworthy source.