Carthy killing: Oireachtas inquiry ‘not sufficient’

THE sister of John Carthy, who was shot dead by gardaí at Abbeylara more than a decade ago, has said an Oireachtas inquiry would never have been sufficient to investigate the killing.

Speaking ahead of next week’s referendum, which proposes to grant full powers to Oireachtas committees to investigate matters deemed to be of public interest, Marie Carthy said she and her family were unhappy when an Oireachtas committee was established following her brother’s death in April 2000.

While she said she did not wish to comment on the referendum, Ms Carthy said she and her family felt a tribunal of inquiry, with full judicial powers, was the only means by which her brother’s death could be properly investigated.

“We were very disappointed. We knew it would take a full public inquiry, and that’s what we were calling for all the time,” she told the Irish Examiner.

Solicitor Peter Mullan, who represents the Carthys, said it was the family’s view that the constraints imposed on an Oireachtas committee made it unlikely that they could provide full answers on why John Carthy died.

“For certain matters — looking into what went wrong in the banks and so forth — a Dáil committee is a perfectly reasonable forum to do that, but it can’t be a blanket approach,” he said.

“There will still have to be some scope to allow for public inquiries in instances such as Abbeylara.

“If you look at the Finucanes [the family of murdered Northern Irish solicitor Pat Finucane], I think it’s interesting that they are still looking for a full public inquiry after all these years. Sometimes it is the only means by which you can get at the truth.”

Meanwhile, former Fine Gael TD Monica Barnes, who was vice-chairwoman of the Oireachtas committee set up to investigate the incident at Abbeylara, has said the committee may have “overstepped the mark” in attempting to investigate the death of an individual. She said such committees do have much to offer in terms of the investigation of a range of issues, and it was unfortunate TDs and senators have been prevented from holding inquiries in the last decade as a result of Abbeylara.

Picture: Marie Carthy: Tribunal of inquiry essential.