RUC man suspected ‘mole’ in station

ONE of two senior RUC officers killed by the Provisional IRA in 1989 expressed concern just hours before his murder that a garda based in Dundalk was passing on information to republican paramilitaries.

The Smithwick Tribunal heard yesterday that Chief Superintendent Harry Breen had expressed displeasure about travelling to Dundalk on March 20, 1989, because he believed Sergeant Owen Corrigan was in the pay of local republican, Thomas “Slab” Murphy.

In the inquiry’s opening statement in Dublin, tribunal senior counsel Mary Laverty said Chief Supt Breen and his colleague, Supt Bob Buchanan, were travelling to Dundalk to discuss a possible joint operation with gardaí on lands owned by Murphy at Hackballcross, Co Louth.

RUC staff officer Alan Mains reported the claims made by Chief Supt Breen to his superiors in the aftermath of the two murders.

However, Ms Laverty said it appeared the RUC did not pursue the matter further. Looking back at events of the time, Ms Laverty said it was difficult to see how both the RUC and An Garda Síochána had within 24 hours of the murders categorically rejected the possibility of garda collusion in the deaths of the two officers.

“There is certainly some indication of a resistance by police forces on both sides of the border to get to the heart of the issue of the alleged mole in Dundalk Garda Station and to deal with that issue once and for all,” said Ms Laverty.

In a 72-page statement, she claimed public denials by both police forces of possible collusion did not fully reflect their state of knowledge at the time.

Ms Laverty said tribunal lawyers were repeatedly told by former RUC officers that there was a widely held concern within the force in the 1980s in relation to the Garda station in Dundalk.

“There was a general wariness about travelling to Dundalk, given the location of the station both in terms of the town being perceived as a subversive heartland and of the station itself being in an open and visible situation. For others, the wariness extended to one’s dealings with garda officers and, in some instances, with particular named officers,” said Ms Laverty.

She stressed the work of the tribunal was solely to investigate if the IRA had received help from any Garda or state official in carrying out the murders.

To date, the inquiry’s legal team interviewed 214 witnesses, including 107 past and present members of An Garda Síochána.

Ms Laverty said the tribunal received information recently suggesting the British authorities still hold other relevant documents that have not yet been made available.

The tribunal outlined three main theories relating to the deaths of Chief Supt Breen and Supt Buchanan.

One is that the IRA carried out the murders on the basis of its own intelligence.

Another is that the IRA tapped the telephone exchange in Dundalk.

However, Ms Laverty said there was also evidence that had identified three gardaí as colluding with paramilitaries.